Tron: Defiance
by Rose's Requiem
Summary: With the mechanics joining forces with the Renegade the Uprising can truly begin. But with the death of one Program can the Uprising still win against an army? Only time will tell as voxels are shed, truths are discovered, and love is lost and found. The fight for Argon is just the beginning, if they fail at Argon they fail the system.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters used in this story. All rights go to Disney (and their group of people who keep failing to make a movie for Tron that actually does its universe justice).

Warning: My first few chapters are going to be a little on the weak side. They definitely don't read too well and are more just opening scenes.

* * *

Argon is alive tonight, a rarity for the Occupation controlled city. Awake and startled, the citizens of the distant city took to the streets to find out what caused the massive crash and shook the buildings. Heading down to the edge of the city towards Abel's garage only to be blocked by the guards who were cornering off the area.

"Go back to your homes,"

"The curfew is still in effect,"

"This area is off limits,"

Regardless of the guard's warnings and commands the Programs of Argon started to mass outside of the blocked off area, trying to figure out what was going on.

The mechanics and the two masked fugitives that started the crash are heading out of the city.

Through the back alleys and the corners in the city of Argon, the mass of mechanics are lead under the cloak of darkness.

"Tron, can we really fit all these Programs?" One of the fugitive programs asked in a light hearted tone. The fact that the Uprising was no longer just an idea and there were figurative and literal followers of the cause would cause any lone rebel to think there is hope.

"Yes there is plenty of space, Beck," Tron took a small pause "Are you ready to start training an uprising?" he continued in a half serious half joking tone. Beck looked at Tron in surprise.

 _Did Tron just make a joke?_

"Are you kidding?" The two stopped at the end of a alley that opened up to a larger street. The others stayed close behind in the shadows.

Beck had show Mara and Zed how to turn off their circuit lighting with the garage's decoders. Beck's closest friends told the rest of the mechanics how to do the same.

The group waited momentarily as a couple of sentry's on Light Cycles rode out of sight before bursting out of the alley and dove into the one across the street. It wouldn't be long before they were out of the city and headed for the base.

When everyone was safely across the street Tron looked at Beck.

"Beck, I know this is good new for both of us but don't let it get to your head, we may have gained a few followers but this isn't going to win the war," the older Program reasoned with his usual stern voice.

 _Always a buzz kill._

"I know, but let me have this moment okay?" Tron simply sighed.

 _No point in ruining the moment._ Tron had to agree mentally.

The two continued to lead the would be Uprising through the darkness while their enemies scrambled to understand what was happening in what they thought to be their city.

* * *

A disk was engraved into the wall where Pavel's head was only a second earlier.

"Why is that here?" Tesler looked dead in the code of Pavel. Pavel had just turned from looking at the disk in the wall causing orange error slashes in the area.

"Sir I believe that used be a Super Recognizer," Pavel answered with a shaky voice.

 _Idiot_

"Yes, I think I deduced that on my own, BUT WHY IS IT HERE PAVEL?" Tesler's cap started to flap against him as he gloves heated up with energy.

 _Moron_

"Uhh… I believe it… to uhhh… be…" Pavel's stammering was cut off by Tesler's arm shooting out and grabbing hold of his disk ebed into the wall.

 _Bit brain_ , Paige insulted one more time.

"Paige, why is Clu in my city?" Tesler's anger was now directed at his more personal commander.

"I'm not sure exactly sir, I would assume it is because of the Renegade," Paige calmly stated in her usual low tone. Tesler's arm retracted to his side as Pavel let out his breath he was holding ever since his General's arm shot out next to him.

"Now who's fault is it that we still have this Renegade running about?" Tesler shouted at both of his second in command.

At the opposite end of the far room a door opened and a bright yellow glow illuminated the entrance. Tesler slowly turned, hoping that it wasn't who he thought it was. Both Paige and Pavel instantly straightened while their hands shot to their foreheads to salute.

"I believe that is your fault, General," Clu smoothly stated in his calm demeanor. That demeanor which only caused more tension in the air for the generals who could tell whether he was angry, happy, or at least what was deemed as a positive mood, or down right outraged. He always seemed like this, well anyone who did see his worse than good mood was either derezzed or Dyson. One might say that this image he made for himself was perfect…

Paige starred at Clu with the corners of her eyes. Her energy levels were pumping too fast for her to not hear the waves of them as they passed through her ears. The man of perfection was in the same room as her. Something she had always dreamed of ever since she was taken under Tesler's wing, or gloves.

"Clu, welcome to Argon," Tesler's tone had changed into the same kiss ass tone every subordinate takes when in the presence of their superior. He fell to one knee and kept his held down toward the black laminated floor. Clu walked up into the sight line of Tesler's vision so he could see the bottom of Clu's boots that weren't covered by his robes. He did not respond to Tesler's welcoming.

"Stand Program," Dyson ordered Tesler. He did as ordered, but kept his gaze lowered slightly in respect. Dyson then looked over at the two Commanders still in their rigged form.

"You two, leave, we are going to have a nice formal _debriefing_ with your commander," Dyson ordered once again. Paige and Pavel proceed to leave the room. As they were passing Paige took a chance and shot a look at Clu's mask and felt her energy stop for a second as she noticed his helmet was tilled slightly toward them as if he was watching them. She instantly looked toward the door and left without risking anything else.

The two entered the hall to see a two rows of ten Black Guards, ten on both sides of the hall way. The Black Guards all turned to look at the two Commanders. As if their thoughts were being read the Black Guards were in an aggressive stance, itching for a fight. Paige took the incentive and proceeded to leave down the hall. Whether or not she could take on the guards was not the issue, but rather if she wanted to stay in good graces of the almighty Clu it'd be best not to derezz and of his personal guards. Pavel followed Paige shortly after she started walking down the hall.

"Paige, what do we do?" Pavel asked in a worried tone. This was odd, Pavel coming to Paige for advice? Well the whole ordeal was strange, Clu has never stepped a foot in Argon and now he was in the General's quarters, doing Users knows what.

"I don't know Pavel, but I don't want to look at your squeamish face anymore," Paige barked back, irritated at the worm's cowardice.

 _How is he even a commander?_

* * *

Tron turned on the lights to the hologram room and proceeded to enter in his usual solid form. Beck was next to enter followed by the rest of the Mechanics. Beck took his place beyond Tron before the two turned back to the rest of the Programs.

"Greetings Programs," the older Program said with a distorted and gravel like voice.

"Welcome to the Uprising,"

* * *

AN: Hello, and welcome to the Defiance. I hope you'll guys enjoy this story. This would be how _I_ would make Tron's second season, I know they wouldn't do what i'm going to do, but hey stick around for the ride.

-Rose's Requiem


	2. Chapter 2

"Who are you guys?" Zed blurted out. The other mechanics stirred a little as if acknowledging they thought the same.

"We are the Renegade," the taller Program in all black answered.

"You two? So there's always been two?" a mechanic from the back asked.

 _Well, if by two you mean me and Cyrus, then yes…_ Beck mused to himself with bitterness.

"Yes, but he's the one you've all seen fighting Clu's army," Tron motioned over to Beck who stood tall.

"Are you really Tron?"

There was silence for a long moment. Everyone seemed frozen to their spot waiting for an answer from either of the two renegades.

"No, neither of us are Tron. I, however, am a Child Basic," Tron answered with a half truth and half lie. Someone once said the best lie started with a kernel of truth. Or was it every lie has a kernel of truth in it?

The mechanics gasped in shock. Child Basic's were not heard of anymore. When Flynn brought the Grid to a new system some Programs didn't make the transition and the others were eventually updated with their old coding rewritten without derezzing the program. These Programs usually stayed in Tron City and never ventured outside of that area of the Grid.

The black renegade turned to the white one who nodded in return. He reached back and took out his disk splitting it into two and gave the white half to the taller Program. When they reattached their disks the two colors of the suits switched to the everyone's amazement.

"So that's how you look like Tron!"

"Yes, now let's show you all around and get you guys used to your new home, I can't imagine that the Occupation won't be monitoring the garage," Tron turned around and proceeded to leave the hologram room with another exit.

"This is going to be awesome," Mara whispered dreamily to Zed, who simply sighed.

"If only Beck was here,"

* * *

"Have the competent one brought to me,"

"Of course, Clu,"

Dyson exited the General's, no, Clu's quarters and proceeded to head to the "competent one"s room. After following a path of seemingly endless halls and mazes he came up to the door and opened it without asking.

"Program. Up. Now," Dyson ordered with force. Pavel rose to his feet and followed Dyson, who did not wait for Pavel or check if he even heard him.

* * *

Paige was walking around the hanger looking at one of the larger Light Jets that wasn't able to be a simple baton. It was a two person jet but it could be piloted by one. Just looking at it made her more aware of the baton she had attached to her leg. She wanted to break it open and fly to her spot up on the bridge just so she could happily elate to the fact that Clu was here. Perfection was here. Now the Renegade was in for it.

 _What if I bring him in now? What would Clu do?_ Paige imagined that she would have her own platoon of soldiers to lead and help create order and perfection on the Grid. Without a second thought she went up to a guard.

"Soldier, if Tesler or any higher ups require my presence inform me immediately," the soldier saluted in response and Paige proceeded to the middle of the hanger. She broke her baton and was flying through the hanger the next second.

* * *

"Tron I'm going back to the garage," Tron looked at Beck warily.

"Is that really the best thing to do right now?" Tron challenged in his condescending voice.

"Maybe, maybe not, but we should start keeping track of Tesler's moves," Beck ignored Tron's tone and replied casually.

Tron felt an immediate response on the end of his tongue but fought against it. He was confident in Beck's ability to stay hidden and not bring unwanted attention back to the Outlands.

"I need you here. You need to start training them," Tron motioned to the Holoroom where the mechanics were currently staying.

"You know I'm not the best leader, remember how it went when Mara was trying to help us? She wasn't ready and neither was I," Beck reasoned. Tron raised an eyebrow, Beck was getting smarter every cycle. Or at least when it didn't have to deal with a certain Commander, but he was learning from his mistake.

"Well shouldn't you stay here and learn how to be a leader?" Tron once again fought against Beck's decision.

"I think we have to figure what's more important. A simple micro or two of training, or a micro of surveillance and recon?" Tron raised his hand to his chin as he digested Beck's reasoning. He wasn't wrong, but neither was Tron. It was all down to choice at this point.

"Alright Beck, but I want you back within the next micro you understand?"

"Yes, don't worry I'll be fine," Beck patted the back of his mentor "Now shape up our newbies,"

Tron sighed. _He'll, in a way, always be a "newbie"_ Tron mused.

* * *

 _Now let's get a good look at this Super Recognizer._

Paige flew the dark sky of Argon. She looked down at the city and saw that it was the same old. Small lights coming from Light Cycles were flying by headed to their next destination with their packets of information. Paige kept looking down at the city for most of her flight. Not noticing the more than usual amount of Recognizers flying by. Eventually, she did look up as she was nearing the crash site and saw red. Near the crash site in the distance was a fleet of ships as they seemed to protect and quarantine the site. Paige looked back down to see how the ground looked and wasn't surprised to see that there were tanks at almost every corner and a group of guards stationed with them.

Suddenly, Paige's jet was jolted and she was descending jerkily. She looked up and then behind her to see that she had just grazed a ship. Struggling to keep the jet flying, Paige was starting to veer to the right.

 _Just my luck, can't keep acting like an grunt if I want to get in good graces with Clu._ Paige spat at herself. Granted the ship wasn't a Recognizer that made the distinguished grumbly hum of their engines, but she should have kept up her usual awareness.

She had so much trouble keeping the jet from derezzing she had started flying near the border of the Outlands.

Nearing the ground she saw a open area where she could land her failing jet.

 _3, this is not gonna be pretty._

 _2, this is probably going to hurt._

 _1, this is all the Renegade's fault._

The jet disintegrated as soon as it hit the Grid leaving Paige with too much momentum. As soon as she hit the ground she instantly blacked out.

* * *

Beck came at a stop on top of one of the smaller mountains between the base and Argon. Even from this distance it was obvious. There was a horde of Occupation ships out over the city, mainly over where the garage was supposed to be.

 _What's going on? This many ships can only mean…_ Beck instantly figured out the reason and shut his eyes. He let out a long breathe, it failed to relieve the newly acquired stress.

 _I guess it was only a matter of time._ Beck thought woefully. He turned his bike around and retreated back to home base.

Tron had taken Mara and Zed up on their offer of training the others in simple combat. Tron figured his close friends had gotten more fighting done than the others and while Beck was out it would be best for his friends to learn from other friends other than the Renegade no one knew existed.

He starred at the Programs as they fought until he heard the door behind him open. He turned to see Beck's first Renegade circuit lines.

"Aren't you a little early?" Tron turned to look back at the new acolytes.

"Clu's in town,"

Tron tensed up. He knew this moment would come but regardless of his preparation of this knowledge, it did little to prevent the dread that came with it. Tron forced himself to relax before Beck noticed, hoping to keep his façade of knowing what to do in every situation.

Beck noticed when he finished his sentence that Tron seemed to almost flinch. It was brief but Beck saw his mentor's body stiffen and relax. Almost as quick as a shiver. Beck smirked. Good to see he still has settings other than "tight ass".

"It's good that you came back before you went back to the garage,"

"Not like I had a choice, there's gotta be at least five hundred ships out there!" Beck exclaimed.

 _Leave it to Clu to make a show of himself._

"We'll just have to stay here for a few cycles, we can't expose ourselves when he's doing all he can to find us,"

"What?! No! We go out there and show him we're not afraid of his army!"

"Beck, this is more serious than ever before. If we do something right now we could jeopardize this location and risk everything we've worked on to get to this point,"

 _Didn't we have a conversation like this one already?_ Beck thought. Recalling the incident with the Roadster and Link. _No… I was the one telling us to stay low that time…_

Beck didn't speak for a moment as he mentally fought with himself over this information. On one hand Tron was right, this is as risky as it's ever been. More is at stake than just himself, but if they just sit there Clu will know they're afraid, he'll know they're hiding. And Clu isn't Tesler, as bad as Tesler is Clu is worse, much worse. What would happen to the Programs of Argon?

When hasn't it been risky? It's always been risky. Heroes take risks all the time for the greater good. Was he really calling himself a hero? No, he wasn't a hero, Tron was the real hero. Fighting for the Users! That's the Tron Beck grew up hearing about.

For the Users

For the Programs

For Freedom

"No, this isn't what we do, regardless of what's changed we are still the Uprising," Beck voice was solid as stone. Every bit in his body told him this was right.

Tron looked over at the boy's new found confidence. This was different than his other acts against Tron, this was stronger, bolder, heroic.

Beck walked over and starred through the glass at his friends.

"They are here because they know this is risky, they're here because of them, they're here to fight, they're going to fight Clu whether he has one guard with him or a thousand," Beck's voice seemed so determined it was amazing the glass didn't shatter from it's strength.

"Beck…" Tron started slowly. Beck turned to look at Tron. His eyes were not filled with his arrogant glare but filled with pride and hope.

"You've come a long way," Tron answered. He stared at Beck's eyes. Hard and focused, these eyes were familiar, though a different color than the last time he saw this look he knew it. It was the same look he saw in the mirror when he was working with Flynn. Working to creative the perfection system. Before Clu.

Beck turned toward the glass once more.

"What about them?"

"They're not ready, you know that,"

"Right, but I don't think I should be out there alone, like you said it's risky,"

"Are you asking for my company?" Tron joked.

"Possibly, but you got trapped under that debris earlier, you up for a little action?" Beck shot back.

"How about we do a one on one and see how far you've really come," Tron answered heading back to the elevator down to the hologram room.

"You're on, old Program,"

* * *

The two ended their spar after a half an hour of exchanges. Tron was surprised, the boy seemed so focused it was hard to find an opening to exploit, but Tron never failed in making his way past a defense.

Beck was exhausted, the old Program managed to test Beck's defenses and he found it near impossible to stop all the attacks that came at him, luckily a few dirty tricks that Beck picked up on had Tron on the defense as well.

As the room lit back up there was clapping. All the mechanics had surrounded them in a large circle and were clapping in amazement.

Beck and Tron looked around in wonder. It was rare for the two to have an audience, an audience that wasn't out for their deresolution that is.

"You two are the real deal aren't you," Zed exclaimed in excitement. Shouts and howls were heard from a few Programs as they crowded the Renegades.

"It'd be bad if we weren't," Beck joked back with his voice modified.

"Now i'd like you all to listen, we have some rather troublesome information," Tron said. His white armor shining brightly, "Clu is in Argon,"

The room went quiet. Similar to when they asked if he was Tron.

"You'll be staying here and training with the holograms and each other, you've all seen the place and will be okay while we're out," Beck continued informing the others.

"But we should come with you!" Mara complained.

 _Didn't she say that once before?_

"No Clu's brought his army, this is not the time for us to show ourselves," Tron answered back.

"We're going out to get some details on Clu's army, we'll be back in a cycle or two," Beck looked around at his friends. Most of them seemed wary of him leaving but he had no choice. There was a moment of silence as everyone digested the facts.

"Alright, leave it to us," Mara boosted as she intertwined her arm with Zed's. He caught on instantly and took the same pose as Mara.

"Right, leave it to us! By the time you guys get back we'll have our own army," Zed joined in.

 _If only._ Beck thought.

* * *

Beck and Tron were nearing the main road that led to Gallium and Argon. This section of the Outlands was flat for miles out, allowing a decent view of Argon.

"Beck do you see that?" Tron shouted at his quickly evolving apprentice. Beck looked up to where Tron was pointing. In the sea of red that was Clu's army was a trail of smoke from a small red source.

 _Must be a baton jet, anything that small has to be one._ Beck thought.

"What do you think happened?" Beck shouted back as they neared the edge of the Outlands.

"Who knows, but it's our first stop," Tron accelerated his Light Bike with Beck following suite.

* * *

AN: Just to reiterate, these first few chapters are kind of rough. They're at a point in which i'm proud of them, but I want to get the story out there. Later chapters will have more heart in them and won't be so sparse.

-Rose's Requiem


	3. Chapter 3

Beck and Tron were now positioned outside one of the southern entrances to Argon. The surrounding rocks of Outlands provided great coves to hide in and high stone formations to look down onto the entrance. The renegades were positioned next to the road in a cave that had a clear view of the entrance. It was hard to tell if were more red circuits coming from the guards or the walls of the barricade. There's a tank on each side of the barricade guarding the east and west side.

"I shouldn't have to remind you this is purely for recon, we will not fight Clu or Dyson if we get an opportunity," Tron commanded.

 _Come on, have a little faith in me. And do you really expect us to find Dyson or Clu out here?_ Beck mused as he turned to look at the entrance.

"Yes Tron, I know," he muttered softly.

"Beck, you run a distraction on the East side of the wall, I'll look for a way in while they're distracted," Tron grasped Beck's shoulder. He nodded back at his leader and turned to sprint. Beck launched a few smoke bombs at the ground near the guards but kept himself in the shadows of the canyons. The smoke exploded after the timers went off engulfing the guards and a few yards around them in think gray smoke. The tanks rotated their barrels in the direction of the smoke as guards from the west side started walking to investigate.

Tron saw his chance and bolted from his new yet much closer hiding spot. He moved like a shadow. If you blinked you would have missed him. Beck threw a stunner into the smoke hoping one of the guards that was still inside would get struck and cause a bigger incident.

"Grah!" Perfect or not so much, Beck looked back to the road to see that the tanks were now aimed at him.

 _Guess I should have moved._

As a tank shell flew by his head and causing the rock formation behind him to explode. Voxels showered over Beck as he instantly ducked away from the projectiles path. Beck rose to his feet and started sprinting away from the post figuring it would be better to stay alive than try to fight his way through a miniature army.

Tron started taking out guards that stayed at their post instead of investigating the disturbance, noting on Beck's position. He was afraid that he got a little carried away when the tanks starting shooting off rounds but luckily they were only shooting as a feint, they didn't really know where he was. Tron did his best to hide the bodies or at least gather them in the back corner so the other guards didn't become suspicious immediately seeing a fallen comrade.

Beck finally took a relaxing breath when he realized the tanks thought he was still back where he through his stunner. He looked back from behind his cover to see that the guards were on high alert but they didn't seem to look back at the actual barricade to notice that their friends had gone missing.

 _Too focused on finding the Renegade._

Beck managed to find his way back to the western side of the outpost and saw a light coming from the top of the wall. It was Tron turning on and off his helmet lights and using morse code.

'Go west, I have a rope' Beck waved back to confirm he got the message.

Beck struggled to get over some large boulders and small crevices while sticking close to the barrier that separated the city and the Outlands. Upon reaching a small clearing on top what seemed to be a small mountain but was now cut flat for some reason, Beck saw Tron's lights and saw a dark sliver that reached the ground. Beck didn't hesitate and was next to Tron before he had to think.

"Well done," Tron's pride was evident in his voice.

"You too," Beck answered in a lighter tone.

"Let's get moving," the two started heading down the large wall and upon reaching the ground immediately formed their bikes and headed toward the smoke.

* * *

"These she is, grab her," the leading guard commanded.

Two of the other guards broke from their formation and proceeded to walk to the unconscious form of Paige. Her body seemed fine aside from her minor scratches. Her hair was no longer in its usual tight bun but slowly unraveling around her on the grid floor.

Both guards grab one of Paige's arms and dragged her across the Grid back to the Recognizer that they originally came in.

"Make sure she's secure, Clu wants to deal with her personally," the leader said once more, oblivious to the two shadows moving in the black velvet of darkness.

As the guards trudged their prisoner to the ship the two moving shadows made their move. Synchronized, the two charged the remaining three guards with lightning speed.

The bigger shadow performing a large leap tightening his body so he could spin in his usual mid air roll and then extending his legs when he was close enough to his target to land an enormous kick to his enemy.

The smaller shadow was faster and reached his target before his enemy could properly raise a defense. Using the opening, the shadow sweep his target's legs from under him and while the victim was falling, the small shadow rammed his elbow into the center of the his target's chest and slammed him into the ground, knocking him unconscious.

Both shadows swiftly assaulted the leading guard and overpowered him in a flash.

The two guards bringing Paige to the Recognizer looked back and dropped their prisoner upon seeing the Renegade and a new masked vigilante. The soldiers looked at each other and as if a mental agreement had been reached the two bolted for their escape on the ship.

The two sentries figured Clu would give them a second chance if they told him of the sighting of the Renegade instead of engaging and killing him, thus they flew off in the Recognizer.

Beck ran over to Paige and checked her vitals.

"We have to take her with us," Beck stated calmly.

"Beck, we've had this discussion, she is not one of us," Tron bit back fiercely.

"Well I can't just leave her to be derezzed by the Occupation!" Beck shouted in defense.

"She'll be a liability! Your liability!" Tron continued on.

"She'll be dead if I don't, I'll happily make her a liability than a bunch of voxels!"

"And how are you going to bring her back exactly?" Tron interrogated.

"I'll figure it out, first we have to make sure she'll be safe," Beck looked around for a relatively safe area to hid Paige in. Beck points to an area in the distance.

"That's probably our best bet. It's far and away from center of all the other units," Beck placed his arm under Paige's back and knees and carried her bridal style over the place he had just pointed out. Tron lagged behind keeping an eye out.

"Beck, don't forget, we're not alone out here," Tron warned his apprentice.

"I know," Beck answered as he peered down at Paige.

 _What are you doing out here Paige?_

Beck started to enter the maze of storage units and let himself get lost.

"Will you remember where you put her?" Tron tested.

"Yes… why wouldn't I?" Beck replied unevenly.

"Because we went in a circle twice now," Tron's unimpressed tone cut deep into Beck, causing him to sigh.

"I just want to make sure she'll be-"

"Safe, I know," Tron sighed, "You're still letting your feelings for her cloud your judgement,"

"I know, but even it wasn't _her_ I'd still help the Program, I care for Programs," Beck looked back at Tron, his insinuation towards Tron didn't go unnoticed.

"I care for Programs too, it's trust I have problems with,"

"Right… Well you sure can show Programs how much you 'care' for them," Beck mumbled.

"Put her here, we're far enough in that the Occupation won't find her but it'll be easy enough for us to get her,"

"Okay," Beck laid Paige against the storage unit and turned to Tron. "Let's go,"

"Do you have a plan for her?"

"We'll steal a Recognizer,"

"And let Clu's army follow us to the Outlands?" Tron raised his voice.

"I didn't say we'd be flying it back to the Outlands," Beck felt a smirk growing on his lips.

Tron looked over to his apprentice with question. Beck started to move through the maze of shipping crates, beckoning Tron to follow.

"We're going to steal one and fly to the Garage. Instead of landing, I'll jump out with Paige and take a bike back to the hideout," Beck explained. Tron briefly thought over Beck's plan.

"How will you get past the guards?"

"Zed was working on a third bike. It'll outrun most of the Occupation's ships and bikes,"

"Most?"

"Let's just hope they don't have any Light Jets," Beck said lightheartedly.

As the two went to a clearing, they were greeted by two Light Tanks and a dozen soldiers. Beck and Tron pulled out their discs as two dozen more troops came out from hiding spots around the storage units and completely surrounded the two. Both Renegades went back to back and prepared themselves for their first major battle against Clu's army.

"You ready for this, Beck?" Tron said as he prepared to launched his body towards the tanks to disable them.

"More than you know," Beck said with a hardened voice as he tensed himself to fight off the guards.

"Now!"

Tron launched himself forward as the tanks aimed their barrels to his future path line. Beck flung his disc into the encircling Black Guards to break their formation. As predicted, the guards dodged out of the way allowing Beck to leap through the gap.

Shooting their payloads, the tanks missed their target as he barrel rolled his body through the air. Landing on the tanks, Tron cut up to the turret and planted a small sticky grenade to the end of the cut he just made. Jumping off and landing on a sentry, his disc still ran, it's low growl was hard to hear as the guards completely surrounded him. He looked up from his low crouched position at the guards. There was hesitation from all the guards, fear and anxiety taking hold of their legs. The hesitation was all Tron needed, letting his grenade go off.

Tron rolled to the ground, grabbing the sentry under him and covering himself with his body. The explosion blasted the tank into bits and pieces, the shrapnel flew in all directions taking out a few unlucky soldiers. The body protecting Tron made a small grunt, fulfilling it's purpose. He heaved the body off and stood to engage any opponents. All the enemies he previously faced had been knocked down, a few had been reduced to voxels.

A painful sounding gear churning could be heard from behind. Turning his head, Tron found that second tank now had a large fraction of the destroyed tank's lower hull sticking out from its body. Sparks and digital tearing were now pronounced around the stabbing of the tank's body. Tron smirked at his work.

 _It's good to be back._

* * *

Beck flew through the storage units. The sound of boots charging after him were making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He turned to see the guards a few feet away from him, where he wanted them. Now that all the guards had been gathered together and weren't spread out, Beck had a much better chance of taking them down.

Leaping into a flashy flip, Beck reached to his disc and flung it back midair. The first few rows of guards had managed to avoid the bright disc, unfortunately for the ones in the back, they couldn't see what was happening in front of them and had no time to react.

When Beck landed, the guards had started to surround him in standard formation. Catching his disc, he stood fiercely in his trained stance. The sentries looked to each other, nervous and weary to fight the Renegade, knowing his skills.

"Come on, I take on Black Sentries for warm up," a smirk played on Beck's face as he taunted the guards. He knew he could handle the sentries, but he'd have to be quick before more of Clu's soldiers showed up.

One sentry took a small step forward but instantly shot back in fear. Still the guards fidgeted, no one having enough courage to strike first.

"Fine, you guys are no fun," Beck dropped a smoke bomb which exploded on impact. With their batons held with intense grips, the sentries backed up, trying to gain vision.

Quickly, the guards began to be taken down to the ground and decommissioned. Kicking out their feet and elbowing them to the ground, launching them into a wall or another sentry, or simply hitting them at the top of the spine with his disc, the Renegade was making easy work of the sentries.

Unfortunately, some had mad it out of the smoke and were now regrouping towards the area they came from. The sounds of the sentries still lost in the smoke was the only thing heard as they were continually defeated.

"Should we help them?" one of the sentries asked as two painful grunts echoed from the smoke.

"How?" another questioned.

"We need reinforcements,"

"I'll go," one of the sentries quickly stated before anyone else could volunteer. To run away.

"Go, I don't want to end up like the others,"

The volunteering sentry immediately ran back to the direction they came. The smoke coming from the original ambush point in the distance didn't help to ease his nerves.

"We should hide and try to get the jump on him," the other sentries nodded in agreement and immediately separated into the corners of the cargo units.

By now the smoke bomb had started to thin out, Beck had just finished off the last three soldiers with a round house kick to one that sent him and the other two barreling into a storage container. He looked around and found that he had only managed to down about half of their team.

 _Come on. I don't have time for this!_

Beck looked around to try to gain his bearing, his eyes widening in fear as he realized he wasn't to far from Paige's location.

Thinking of her safety, he started back to the where he left Tron. Deciding to save his energy and hopefully draw out some of the straggling sentries away from Paige. He began a brisk walk with some amount of noise to help gain attention.

It wasn't long before Beck felt his senses go on alert and heard a small ting come from the storage container to his left. Slowing his walk, he kept his eyes to his left, waiting for moment. Even though he had more than enough confidence, he didn't become lax, not letting his pride and arrogance get to him. The sound of running boots alerted Beck that there was someone coming from behind. Spinning as fast as he could, he saw a sentry mid air coming from the top of a storage unit. With a sidestep, he dodged the swing of the baton with a few inches to spare and kicked the sentry right in his exposed stomach.

A solid brunt of force hit Beck on the side of his head causing his eyes to see bright sparks of light in front of his vision. Anger rising, Beck blindly retaliated by thrusting his elbow in the direction of where he was hit. The impact of his elbow into the helmet of the sentry surprised Beck but he felt relief that he wasn't vulnerable to another attack. Hearing more foot steps Beck looked up to the fading sparks and saw two more soldiers charging at him, their batons raised above their heads. Beck dodged out of the way of the first swing only to be struck by the second. Luckily training and muscle memory had forced his arms up in defense. As the flare of pain spread through his arms, Beck grabbed the baton and instantly turned it against his opponent, ripping it from the soldier's grasp and completing a 360 with the momentum still left from his pull and knocking his legs out but hitting the knees. Before Beck could knock the sentry unconscious another baton had come down in front of him. He quickly back stepped and jabbed the butt of his baton at his enemy. The gasp of air that left the target confirmed he was my prepared for such a quick counter. Beck wasted no time in returning the burning pain that still captured his head, using an anger filled swing to knock the soldier out. Looking back to the other downed sentry only to find he had slowly started crawling away. A large sigh escaped Beck, walking over and doing the same treatment but with less force to resolve the nuisance of a guard.

Bright blue had captured Beck's eye before he started walking back. The knees of the guard had been badly damaged that his coding was about to burst open and become exposed. A sliver of shame started to ball up in his gut, realizing his anger filled him more than he liked. He'd have to talk to Tron about it.

Back on track but with new bumps and bruises, he was just starting his way back to the ambush point. His legs were now gaining a strain from use, a familiar uncomfortable feeling he was all too weary of. The muted thud of his feet weren't enough to bounce off the hall like formation of storage units but were the only thing to fill his ears, until a distant but menacing rumble of stomps started to flow down the hall.

Slowing to another stop, Beck squinted his eyes hoping to make out the new blob of faded red he saw in the distance, though he already had an idea of what it was, reinforcements. His head slumped down in defeat.

 _It's probably better just to hide and think I ran off._

He turned around to the direction he was previously walking from, but froze in place when he saw five Black Guards had the rest of the passage blocked off. Gritting his teeth and letting the frustration simmer down, the Renegade decided he could still run off after taking the guards down in front of him. Without another thought, he bolted and punched the middle guard. His head was snapped to a highly displeasing angle as he flew a few feet back.

 _That was easier than expected._

The sound of discs being ignited didn't assist with Beck's satisfied mood. The adrenaline from his earlier fight still lingered in his next moves. Throwing his disc at the Black Guard to his right, causing him to back flip out of the way of it, Beck shot to the spot the trained soldier would land and kicked him in his center. The Black guard behind him had jumped out of the way of his ally and chased after the Renegade as he turned toward the other guards who had started to close in.

Beck could tell they weren't in the mood to take prisoners. Their slashes and swings were aimed to kill and nothing was held back. At full speed and power, Beck still found it easy to dodge and stop the attacks that came down on him. Dodging two attacks at once, he looked back to see that one of the discs had cut straight through their teammates wrist. The other disc fell to the ground with an audible clack and ringing noise as it rolled on its edge but stayed in the same place. Beck shook his head at the sight.

 _Can't even work together. What a joke._

Beck looked down the way and found the reinforcements were too close for him to run away. It was a pipe dream for him to think he could have taken out five Black Guards so quickly. Squeezing his disc that had returned to him right after he engaged the second guard. He was still acutely aware that Paige was still nearby. He made sure to keep the fear that she may have already been found and taken to Clu at the back of his mind, it wouldn't matter if he let himself get derezzed in the up coming battle.

Shutting out all thoughts of Paige, he let his mind focus on the problem to his front. Another large group of soldiers had come to fight the Renegade this time, only this time it was made of a majority of Black Guards with a few sentries sprinkled in. The orange of their circuit lines stained the slightly reflective surface of the storage units they stood next to. An ignition of a disc would constantly come for the sizable group as one by one they prepared to eliminate their most notorious enemy.

The fact that none of them had faces always made it a little easier for Beck. It made them seem less… Program and more… Clu. He raised his disc in an defensive stance. The hum of his disc sending a small amount of reassurance through his body.

 _Here goes…_

 _For the Users,_

 _For the Grid,_

 _For the Programs,_

 _For freedom!_

* * *

AN: Alright so my confidence for writing fighting is zero. I'd love some constructive criticism on it, and tips would be appreciated. I hope you enjoyed.

-Rose's Requiem


	4. Chapter 4

Energy. Air. Weight. That's all Beck could concentrate on at the moment. His chest and circulator (heart) didn't want to calm down. The bodies around him seemed to make it obvious why he was so out of it. 30 plus Black Guards can really take it out of a Program.

* * *

Paige woke to see a body. She groaned and looked around to see that it wasn't a single body but many bodies around all of them guards. Her thoughts immediately went to the only one responsible to something of this level, the Renegade. She reach to her back and found her disk. It was comforting to know it was still there. She brought it in front of her to find that it was nearing the night time of the cycle. After quickly fixing the minor damages from the fall she rose to her feet and stretched her limbs.

Nothing like being unconscious for the day to really seize up your body.

Paige reanalyzed her environment to gain a better perspective of where she was and how she ended up there. She froze as she heard heavy breathing coming from down the hall of storage units. She silently walked toward the sound as she stayed aware of her surrounding. Her red circuits glowed dully against the faded exteriors of the storage units around her. She reached back and grabs her disk once again but didn't ignite the blades. She could see the faint outlines of circuits on the crates around the source of the breathing. It was blue and the suit was visible. How could that be? It's black how can you see black against a dark gray crate at night? No it's not black, it's white.

Paige let out a growl. It's always him. She can't get away from this menace no matter where she goes, or crashes. But from looking around the place she's not where she originally crashed. She ignited her disc and stepped into sight of the area where the Renegade was.

* * *

Beck turned when he heard the humming of a disc to his right. A fierce looking Paige was the last thing he wanted to see.

"Renegade," Paige state as if the words tasted vile in her mouth.

"Commander," Beck said with a dry exhausted breath.

"Need a glass of energy?" Paige taunted.

"I would love some, but I don't think you have one, being knocked out an all," Beck was able to use his casual joking tone once more, but with great difficulty.

"So you decided to take me prisoner after I crashed? Only you would stoop that low, Renegade," Beck sighed.

Every time it's a misunderstanding with this Program.

"Look, we were helping you! Those guards were going to derezz you!" Beck pleaded softly.

"Spare me your lies Renegade, you left me on that island, why would I ever trust you?" Paige narrowed her eyes. Her anger was going far past her normal limits. She was sick of this Renegade, he was a plague on this city, on perfection. It was a mistake to let him live on the island, she could have just fixed the power pack to the boat herself, she didn't need this fugitive to do it for her. She would have done it in a heart beat had she known he was going to leave her to be derezzed by the sea. But now he was going to take her prisoner? Who knows what he would have done. What Tesler does to some of the captured Programs is brutal and even Paige found it hard when some of the Programs were scheduled to the games or interrogation. What could the Renegade and his stupid band of murderers think of?

"Paige, ple-" Beck ducked as Paige's disc arced close his head. Her anger far from being in control.

"It's time for your end Renegade," a dark figure dropped down a few feet from Beck, stopping Paige's next advance.

"B-," Tron nearly blurted out but seeing Tesler's competent commander in front of him quickly reversed his mistake.

"Renegade, we have to go, more guards are on their way," Tron rectified his sentence. Beck nodded but never looked away from Paige. The two started walking backwards as Paige started to clomp her heels against the Grid towards them. As if communicating mentally, the two bolted at the same time in the opposite direction.

"You take the guards, I think I can manage Paige," Beck spat out to Tron, his chest feeling painfully alive with too much use.

"You think?"

"I'll handle the Commander," with a nod Tron went down another path and was bouncing off the walls to the top of the containers. Paige didn't give him another thought as she kept her eyes glued to the Renegade.

"You won't get away, Renegade," Beck looked over his shoulder to see Paige closing the distance. Exhaustion setting in on Beck once more. He was in worse shape than he knew.

"What will make this time any different? I always skip out on you, Commander," Beck was surprised his voice was so weak.

"Listen to yourself, Renegade, you're in no shape to stand against me, but you never were, that's why you always ran!" Paige shot back.

I honestly wish we could just have a battle of wits instead of actual fighting, it's more fun and less straining on the body. Plus, I get to look at her while she's angry, she's always cute that way. Not that's not… This is not the time for this. Beck shook his head to clear his thoughts.

Beck felt the hairs on his back start to stand on end. He ducked as a disc flew through the air once more, too close for comfort. Beck lost his footing on his roll to stand back up and ended up spilling out onto the floor. His body ached from being hit with batons and a few well landed punches from his endurance round with the guards. He rolled as Paige's disc came once again and ricocheted off the ground. Beck spun his body on the ground kick out Paige's legs from under her.

Using his advantage he rose to his feet and pulled his disc from his back. Paige was at her feet almost instantly and was just as quickly slashing away at Beck. She swung her disc backhanded, missing, and followed using her moment to cartwheel her leg over her head twisting to her body and crashing her heel down onto Beck. Beck's head was jolted forward with massive pain. He only got a brief moment to think about it, before he was reacting to avoid Paige's disc was upper cutting from her bent stance. Beck lunged backwards and before he knew it was kicking Paige's disc out of her hand. Beck landed his backflip only to be slammed in the stomach with a boot, effectively knocking out all of his air. Beck backed up with his hands over his stomach and gasping for breath.

"You're more open than usual, did the guards wear you out Renegade," Paige growled as she picked up her disc that had landed a few yards to the side of the pair. Beck forced himself to breath and looked up to see Paige closing the distance.

"Wait… Paige," Beck managed to stagger backwards with his disc up in defense.

Paige stalked over to Beck with her disc once again at the ready. She noticed how the Renegade's disc was shaking and how he was visibly using all his strength to keep it raised.

"Hmpt, to think you gave us all this trouble, and now you're at your end," Paige said with triumph before she kicked the Renegade's disc from his feeble hands.

The Renegade started backing away from Paige. She closed the distance and made lazy attacks at the Renegade, taunting him. A huntress playing with her meal. Even though their long chats and prolonged battles were the reasons he was able to get away there was nothing he could do. He was on the verge of passing out, surrounded by Clu's soldiers, and behind enemy lines.

Beck felt his vision starting to blur as the attacks became closer together in timing. He knew she was just toying with him, as he'd always done with her.

Paige started to feel agitation as she realized that the Renegade wasn't going to give up. Even after she started to pick up her pace and was eventually going all out, the masked "vigilante" was able to find strength and was maneuvering his way from her and her blows.

Beck was feeling the same rush of back up energy from fighting the guards as was able to move his body against it's will. The pain blocked out, he felt his movement more natural and instinctive from training than anything else. But that added effect shortly lasted. Having used most of it in his previous battle Beck was growing tired once more. Suddenly, he made an error in his footing and took a second too long to regain his proper stance. That second was going to cost him dearly as the disc came closer to him. As if time was slowing he could see it on it's directed path but could do nothing against it.

Paige felt her previous rage come back to her as the Renegade got his second wind and along with her rage came her unyielding attacks. When the Renegade lost his footing, Paige was no wiser until she saw that he wasn't moving out of the way of her disc. And like with Beck, Paige felt time start to slow as she realized her mistake. She had gained a little control over her rage when she realized that the capture of the Renegade was inevitable but she was already relying on it in her fight.

The disc slowly crossed the top shoulder blade of the Renegade and continued its course downward to his chest and left his body near his hip. The cut was deep enough to be serious but not for immediately derezolution.

Beck yelled out in pain and jumped back only to have his legs give out on his landing. He fell back and his helmet made a large crunch as it hammered itself into the Grid floor. Beck immediately went to stand but found his body didn't do as he commanded. The pain was almost unbearable and Beck found himself unable to even shout out, but he felt it slowly fading.

What's going on…

He used all of his strength to lift his head and see what was going on. He saw Paige standing where she struck him frozen in what seemed to be shock. He looked down to his chest to see partially inside of himself.

That's gonna leave a mark…

Beck's head fell back once more. He starred at the dark gray clouds as they soundlessly floated through the sky.

Must be nice to be so fluffy and innocent…

His thoughts were now ceasing to recognize important events and procedures.

Why am I…

His vision was starting to become warped and faded. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He concentrated and saw Paige standing over him in worry.

Why is she so worried? She's a medic right? She'll fix me up. Wait… what's wrong with me again?

"Hey, what happened to me…" Beck manage to say. He trailed off at the end as if he was trying to remember her name.

Paige didn't respond as she looked for his disc.

Where the hell is his disc?

She started to panic as she realized she knocked it away from him and the beginning of their sparring. She instantly stood and saw it back down the path they had traveled.

"Paige…" Beck groaned out as his head slumped over. She ran to his disc and opened up his body schematic's as they started to pick up it's owners diagnostics.

While making changes and fixing broken code, the disc must be worn on the dock, the disc will pick up the users data if it is in close enough proximity to the owner. If someone were to mess with someone's code on the disc, it would be pretty insecure if they didn't have to actually make the owner wear their disc to cause the changes.

Paige gasped as she saw his code. It was starting to break apart, the code around his chest was losing stability as most of his body appeared in red or orange damaged code lines. She slid to his side as she stabilized his code as best as her old training would allow. It had been a long time since she actually used it on anybody. If it weren't for such the serious setting she would have realized the last person she actually healed was the same man she was treating this time. She was only about half way done with stabilizing his code, or at least stoping the derezolution process when the Renegade came to.

"Paige…" Beck's voice was course and weak. She looked down as she saw his visor looking at her.

"Hold on, i'm trying to save you," Paige muttered as she turned back to her disc. All of her rage was spent and her drive to take him prisoner had taken a back seat to her primary medic training. She felt a hand grab her wrist and stop her healing process.

"Paige, I just wanted to tell you, I'm glad I met you," Beck felt his vision become fuzzy once more. Paige raised an eyebrow in shock.

"You're delirious, wait until-"

"Even you can't fix this, Comman... Medic," even in his confusion he knew he was speaking to the warm hearted Medic he met as Beck and not the fierce stone cold Commander he met as the Renegade.

"Yes I can if you'd let go," Paige slapped his hand of her wrist and proceeded to finish his code.

"Paige…"

"Shut up," Paige felt irritation rise up as her patient wouldn't close his mouth. Then again, he rarely did. She lifted his back up and was able to attach his disc to his dock.

Beck felt his code start to rearrange in his body as it started to stabilize slightly. He felt pain and relief as the voxels around his chest stopped burning as they seemed to heal themselves. He let out a small hiss of pain as the process continued.

"Shut up, it's not that bad, better than being derezzed," Paige glared at her patient knowing the pain he felt.

"Easy for you to say," Beck looked back at Paige and found a smirk on her lips.

"Once this is over-,"

"You're taking me to Clu," Beck finished for her. Paige glared at him once more.

"At least you understand,"

Beck felt his coding start to replace itself on his chest and felt the pain start to rise exponentially.

"Now this part I expect to be painful," Paige looked down on the Renegade with another smirk. She was glad to help someone but this was the one patient she was glad to see in pain.

Beck yelled out in surprise as the pain rose higher. He closed his eyes in hope that he could concentrate on something to relieviate the pain.

His thoughts immediately went to Tron and as soon as it went to him it went to something else. He may have been a great Program to look up to and work under but all the times he inflicted pain on Beck and the times he was emotionally cold was not going to help him now.

His next thoughts went to Mara and Zed. His pain was held at bay until he remembered another Program that was undoubtedly tied with his friends. Bodhi and the rage that accompanied his memories was enough for Beck to move onto the next distraction.

He then went to the Program sitting next to him now. Not the commander but the female Program he had actually taken out a couple times. The Program he had tried to get to know. She liked tall places, open areas, and… freedom. How could her actual self be so far from her military self? She was like… what did Tron call them? Bird? Birds! Exactly. A beautiful creature that could fly away at a moments notice and be free to go anywhere it pleased, a creature that was made of and flew with freedom.

Without knowing Beck had found Paige's hand and was now squeezing it tightly. It brought him comfort and helped keep the pain from his first thoughts.

"Hey, what…" Paige looked down when the Renegade grabbed her hand and started to hold onto it. The feeling was familiar but she couldn't place it, as were many things with the Renegade. It was something she didn't consciously think about because she didn't have the time and knew it would only lead to distractions to find meaningless similarities to random Programs she had crossed, most likely in the military. But with her Medic coding active, she didn't feel compelled to pry his hand off of hers. Instead, she gave a small squeeze back as if to reassure him that she was still there.

Beck felt the pain starting to subside and loosened his grip on what he was holding. In confusion Beck tried to recall what he was holding. By the feel of it, it was a hand, but the only person who's hand it could be was…

Before he could finish his thought the hand was removed. There was a sudden jolt from his back as his disc was forcefully removed causing him to open his eyes. Paige was frantically going through his code to find his diagnostics. Her expression was not reassuring.

"What's going on?" Beck asked. Paige didn't respond. The pain had started to pick up again but Beck kept his eyes and mind open to get an answer out of Paige.

"Paige!"

"Shut up! You're code is relapsing, if I don't do something-" Paige stared at the code in shock as she realized the code had broken down underneath her own fixes and now that strain on the coding she fixed was failing. It was like a bridge with too much weight had finally collapsed and all the debris was falling down destroying what was around it.

But how…

She looked deeper in his coding to see where the structural failure started. A great place to start fixing the coding.

Beck felt pain all over his body now and could no longer hear Paige. He felt his left ankle burst into fiery pain. A loud shout came from his mouth but he only managed to fidget with his exhausted body.

Paige started to panic as her enemy started to fall apart before her eyes.

The pain of his ankle felt as if it was going to make him pass out but suddenly it stopped and it felt blissfully nice. His relief was short lived as he heard Paige gasp out in horror. He opened his eyes to see his body in his disc that Paige was working on. His eyes shot open as he saw his left leg was in half.

"No, no, no, this can't be happening!" Paige blurted out as she kept combating the deteriorating code.

"Paige, what's…" Beck tried to speak but before he could be aware of it, he was unconscious.

Paige glanced at the Renegade to see his head slumped over.

Better this way.

She instantly resumed to her task. She looked at the code and felt her heart sink, the code was at a point in which the damage was going to be permanent, and if she wasn't lucky, she would lose him. She felt an nauseating feeling well up in her core as she worked as fast as she could manage, but that didn't stop her fears. In her panic she accessed the Renegade's appearance templet and froze as she saw the face of the owner.

Beck…?

Paige blocked out the thought as she relied on her Medic coding to not let personal matters get into her procedure. She turned back to the coding only to see it was too late. The breakdown had gotten to his core components and it was only a matter of time before he was derezzed. She dropped his disc and stared down at the helmet in loss.

How could I have let this happen…

Her first thoughts were quickly consumed by a much more personal matter.

How could… how could I… how could it be… you?

Paige let go of her barriers and let the realization that Beck and the Renegade were one in the same. She slowly reached to the back of his helmet and felt the cracked plastic housing near the release point. She quickly realized that the release point was removed. She followed a crack that was caused by his fall and found it was chipped near the circuits to the areas of the release mechanism. With a bit of work she was able to get it release his visor.

As the visor collapsed Paige held her breath in anticipation. She realized this setting was probably the worst for the great reveal of the Renegade. As the visor was disappearing, the Renegade's arm had turned to voxels. Paige looked up to watch it fall to pieces. She looked back down to see Beck's face in place of the visor. Before she could stop her self, she lowered her self to his chest and wrapped her arms around him. Small droplets of water fell onto his chest and were absorbed into the suit. Along with the tears, memories of Beck that she couldn't stop appeared in her head.

"You know, 'one goes free'" The first time she met him on the train.

"I lied,"

"I was… trying to impress you," - When he was trying to save everyone on the train to Bismuth.

"New perspective…" - When he tried to open her eyes to another view.

"It's beautiful up here," - When she brought him to her sanctuary on top of the bridge.

"But why? Don't let the Occupation control you!" - When she told him it wouldn't work.

"We can still be together! This has nothing to do with them!" - When he told her it could.

"Freedom is perfection," - When he left without another word.

She looked up from her misery to see his other leg steadily losing stability and turning to voxels. It was only a matter of time now. Once it reached his chest it would destabilize what's left of his code and derezz him.

She looked back at his unconscious face, and raised her hand to stroke his cheek. She had always wanted to. Always seeing his smile made her wonder what it felt like to smile so much. Did it cause his cheeks to hurt after a while? Were his cheeks softer? Harder? How could he do it so often? He would always break into a smile at the sight of her, even when he seemed to be brooding about something when he was alone waiting for her.

"Beck…" she felt her thumb cross his cheek. It was soft and warm to her touch. Just as she hoped it would be.

He always seemed to relaxed with her. He wasn't hiding himself, like she was. Usually his stories were of the time before the Occupation came to Argon, passing his free time with his friends. At first he didn't want to open up about what first happened when the Occupation did arrive but after a few dates Beck told her about Bodhi and what happened to him. She was torn to find that the guards were so ruthless and out of line. After that they stayed away from Occupation talk, to both their benefits, at the time the Renegade was becoming an annoying nuisance and Pavel was growing extremely tiresome. His life was simple but fun. No not fun, it was alive. Almost everyday they would go out to the clubs and enjoy the night time. If not the clubs then the courts to practice their disc skills and challenge each other. His job was something he enjoyed to do as well. It was his passion, to fix things, make them right. Paige remembered a time when it was like that, when her life wasn't filled with stress, anger, and death.

She opened her eyes, not knowing when she shut them. Her eyes roamed over Beck's gentle yet masculine features. Even when he was about to be derezzed he managed to look peaceful, in control, and… free.

He was free and she wasn't.

Paige looked back to his leg to find that it was just ending at his upper thigh, she had seconds left with him. Once more she put her head against his chest and let her stinging hot tears fall. The tiny voxels making their small glass sound as they hit the ground.

You can't go… Not when I realized what you meant. Not when I finally realized what I truly want.

Paige felt her head slump forward as the object it was resting on left its solid form. She shut her eyes tighter not willing to accept the reality.

You can't go! Not now… please… anything but this… I want to tell you… I want to tell you about how you were right… how free I wanted to be… how I wanted to be free with you… how I… loved you…

Paige's hands were now resting against the ground with voxels littered around them.

Beck… you can't be…

Beck, the Renegade, was dead.

-separator-

Time ceased for Paige. She stayed in her sitting position with her arms propping her up until they gave out. As if someone else dragged her body, it found its way to the wall of a storage unit and leaned against it for support. Her tired arms wrapped around her knees while her head fell to rest on top of them. The millicycles seemed to go by like nanos. By the time her brain registered that she needed energy it was the beginning of a new cycle. She felt her stomach churn with the idea of looking up but fought against it. It had been millicycles since she had seen him and she wasn't sure if he was truly gone or if she had imagined it all up. Her eyes caught sight of the cubes of the derezzed program only a few feet away. Her secret hopes that it was just a bad dream were quickly dashed away, causing her heart and head to fall once more.

Wait…

Even in her painful haze she felt an oddity. Paige looked back instinctively without thinking of the mental and physical consequences. She saw Beck's disk still intact and lying in the middle of the cubic debris. She slowly crawled over to it, her hands and knees gently pushing away the remains of the fallen program. When she grabbed it she found her way back to the storage unit and opened up Beck's memory bank.

"You know 'One goes free, one goes free,'"

"Oh… I remember now, you disk skills were… adequate,"

Beck's Memory Thoughts: Oh please… you know they were good, Paige.

Paige's Thoughts: Maybe I was a little hard on him…

"Don't feel bad, i'm sure you're good at your real job. Tell me, do you find waste disposal satisfying?"

"Ha, now look who thinks she's funny, for your information i'm… an Architect,"

Beck's Memory Thoughts: Trying to impress and keep a cover… smooth Beck.

Paige's Thoughts: That's… cute actually. Paige felt a small grin break her frown.

"I'm sure your friends are proud, now move along Architect,"

-fast forward-

Beck steps in front of Paige.

"Step aside!"

"What happened?"

"Technical difficulties, now move! I'm looking for somebody,"

"Like me?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm who you're looking for,"

Beck's Memory Thoughts: What the hell am I saying?

"Do you want to get hurt?"

"No, I want to repair the train,"

"How? You're an Architect,"

"I'm not really… I'm a mechanic…"

Beck's Memory Thoughts: Well if you remember my face the first time we actually met then you would know that wouldn't you, Paige?

Paige's Thoughts: When I first met him?

"Why did you lie?"

"I, ugh, I wanted to impress you, i'm sorry. It sounded like a good idea at the time,"

The train is shutting down… for damage control when it crashes…

"Fine, you wanna impress me? Fix that!"

"If you can't do it just say so, for all I know you lied about being a mechanic too,"

"Nope, but I did lie about wanting to impress you,"

"Uh huh…"

"If you ask me, you've been impressed since we first met,"

"Absolutely, and why is that again? I can't seem to remember…"

The doors separating the passengers is lifted by Beck.

"Any more questions?"

-fast forward-

"Sorry, nothing I can do, there's not enough code here to repair,"

"Then you need to find another way to stop this train, I'm not about to let all these Programs die!"

"Since when does the Occupation care about sparing innocent lives?"

"You don't know me, Mechanic, don't act like you do,"

Beck's Memory Thoughts: Wow, so she really does care about saving lives doesn't she?

"Fair enough,"

-fast forward-

The train cars are cut from the engine.

"How does it feel to finally save some lives for once?"

"For you information I wasn't always a soldier,"

"Oh yeah?"

"But I-"

"Am now…" Paige finished the memory. She let her hand fall as the disc fell to the ground and made an audible clash with the ground.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be…

She rubbed her thumb against the disc, a subconscious act which lead to a discovery.

Why does it feel different?

She looked back at the disc and saw that it had an odd line going through the center of its rim. She slid her fingernail into and was able to split apart the over laying part. The original disc was now black as it was supposed to be as she the other half looked to be an actual half of another disc. It was white and underneath it was raw circuits that shouldn't be exposed. She examined it shortly before placing it down on the ground and look back into Beck's memories. She knew it was unhealthy, but she wanted to remember the good times of her and Beck not the bad times of the Commander and the Renegade.

"Who are you?"

"This isn't what it looks like… I was just… gauging my opponent,"

"And… what did you learn?"

Paige's Thoughts: Is that… Tron? What happened to his face?

"That she wants to… kill me,"

"Then you probably shouldn't have agreed to go on that date with her,"

"It's not a date, Paige is a commander in the enemy's army. I'm gathering intel. For the good of the Uprising,"

Tron snorts as Beck looks at his reflection in the monitor.

"Your hair looks fine, it's your stance that's all over the place,"

"I'm not trying to recruit Paige because I like her!"

"Since when are you recruiting her? I thought you were gathering intel,"

"She's different and she can be turned… I think…"

Beck's Memory Thoughts: I hope anyway…

"I have to try,"

"Winning her over may be a lost cost, but I won't try to talk you out of it,"

Paige felt a spark within her, a real feeling since… She put the disc back down and laid her head into her knees. She couldn't keep going, it was going to kill her knowing what Beck felt while dating her.

Could that really be Tron? Is he really alive?

"Commander?" Paige looked up to see a tall figure in all black looking down on her. It wasn't a Black Guard. No Black Guard would have the nerve to hide his circuit lines. It was the one with Beck meaning…

"Tron," Paige spat. Whether Tron was surprised at his identity being uncovered he didn't show it. Simply stood there.

"Well, should I be concerned about who this used to be?" Tron asked gesturing to pool of voxels next to him. Tron took a look at the Commander and noticed how exhausted and worn she looked.

"Why are you here, Tron?" Paige didn't hear his question.

"Seeing that you know who I am, either you figured out who the Renegade is and then me, or he told you,"

"Does it matter," her voice laced with a deep rooted but controlled anger.

"No I suppose not, because even when you tell your General, Users hope you don't tell Clu, they'll derezz you on the spot if you say i'm alive,"

Paige seethed, her anger breaking her restraint to turn the legendary Tron into nothing but voxels.

"Where is he Paige? Hopefully, you didn't rough him up too much this time," Tron's voice was starting to gain concern. It was then that he finally noticed that the disc in her hand was not her own and there was a bright white looking object next to her, from his position he could barely see it.

"He's not here,"

"Paige,"

"He's gone,"

"Paige!"

"He's…"

"What happened!?"

"THIS HAPPENED!" Paige shot up with the white part of Beck's disc in her hand and threw it at Tron's chest and proceeded to wave her arms above her as if everything around them explain the situation.

"This war! The Occupaton! Clu! The Renegade! YOU! ALL OF THEM HAPPENED AND IT KILLED HIM. JUST LIKE IT KILLED SO MANY OTHERS!"

Tron caught the part of his own disc and starred at it in shock.

This wasn't supposed to happen. He was just becoming what he needed to be…

They both stood in silence, looking to the ground as if it was the only thing that made sense anymore.

"He…" Tron's voice was dry when he broke the silence. It was hard for him to talk, probably because him mind was struggling to fully take in Paige's words. "He wanted to save you…"

Paige's response is too quite for Tron to hear.

"He cared for you Paige… more than he did me,"

Paige responded with silence.

"He was starting to… Maybe he already did but… he was falling for you, Commander," Unintentionally, Tron hit a raw nerve with Paige. She threw Beck's disc at him. He dodge it easily. Paige ran past Tron to the returning path of Beck's disc and caught it, but kept on moving and away from Tron.

"Wait! Paige! Let me help you!" But his words didn't seem to reach her as she ran into the distance.

She ran away.

* * *

AN: Well, well, well. Here we are. I wasn't going to post this chapter so soon but I felt what I had up was boring, storyline wise. This was inspired by the small fanfic 'Lost Renegade' on tumblr and deviantart. I hope I didn't break your heart too much, it takes a shattered heart to write something like this. This is far from over so don't be too sad, just don't hold your breath. Thanks, I hope you enjoy.

-Rose's Requiem


	5. Chapter 5

Tron returned to the Outlands. His hybrid cycle turned into the traditional light bike upon returning to the cave's formatted ground. He attached the baton to his leg and proceeded to the elevator.

 _How could this have happened..._

He pressed the buttons on the elevator when he was inside. He felt himself grow heavier for a brief second as the elevator started to go upward. His head was hung in defeat. Not even the great Tron could stand tall with this loss.

As the elevator reached its only other destination, Tron hesitated in the small compartment. What would he tell the others? What could he tell the others? How would it affect their motivation? They followed him not Tron.

 _His friends should at least know... They deserve that much..._

Tron entered the main room that looked over Argon. Everyone was still asleep in the Training room. Tron sighed as he figured now would probably be the best time.

He walked around the make shift beds with expert silence. His training was second nature to him and he didn't have to try to stay silent. More times than not he would unintentionally sneak up on someone and startle them.

He found Zed and Mara's beds next to each other. He gently pushed Mara so that she would wake.

"Not now, just a few more minutes," her tone implied that this statement was more of a automatic response.

"Mara I need you to wake up," Tron asked with his voice disruptor active. Mara's eyes shot up in immediate recognition. She saw Tron's daunting mask but before she could scream in fear he put a hand over her mouth. He put a finger up to his lips to signal for her to be silent.

"Wake your friend up, I have some rather... unfortunate news," Mara's expression softened to a more concern look after hearing Tron's reason for waking her up.

Mara followed Tron's directions and proceeded to wake Zed up.

"Zed... Zed wake up. We need to talk," Zed seemed to follow in Mara's example and brushed off the first attempt being woken up.

"Later..."

"Program, we need to talk," Tron said on his other side. Again, his voice seemed to have gotten through to the resting program.

"Yes sir," Zed said a little louder than to the dark program's liking. Mara seemed to catch on and did her best to keep him quiet before he woke up the other programs.

The trio looked around to see a couple of the program stirring but none seemed to officially wake. The three proceeded into the main overlook room. Tron walked over to the window and peered over the city he has come to call his own. He let out a sigh as he felt the pain and burden of Beck's death come to his mind.

"Sir?" Zed's enthusiasm was long gone, now replaced with a partial yawn. Mara, still with energy, elbowed him in the side.

"I'm sorry, it's... just I wish he was here to tell you himself,"

"Tell us what, sir?"

"Your friend Beck, he's the Renegade," there was a small pause before the two sleep fogged minds figured out what Tron was saying.

"What?!" They both exclaimed.

"Where is he?" They both said, this time with different tones. Zed was clearly angry while Mara seemed the opposite.

"He's... Gone,"

"Gone?"

Tron proceeded to tell them of the events of last cycle. It wasn't the first time Tron had to tell another Program about the death of a close Program, nor would it be the last. He'd become used it, willingly accepting that he'd no longer see Programs he became close to.

Mara fell to her knees when she realized that the Commander had Beck's disc, while Zed froze during the whole telling of the tale.

"I'm... I'm sorry for all of this, it's my fault, I should have known he wasn't ready to face Clu's army," Tron's voice was weak but still strong enough to be heard over his voice disruptor.

"This wasn't your fault, it was her fault!" Mara growled, her anger fighting to gain control.

"Paige didn't know it was Beck,"

"But it was still her who killed him! And it was Tesler's commands under Clu's orders! I'll kill them all!" Mara let her anger win the control for domination.

"Mara!" Zed exclaimed.

"What Zed!"

"Do you think Beck would have wanted this? He never killed any Programs! He wanted to save them!"

"Yeah? What about those Programs he killed a few cycles ago!"

"Mara, Zed, I haven't told you everything about my Renegades," both Zed and Mara looked up at Tron in bewilderment.

"You have more than one?"

"No... Beck is the one true Renegade but that doesn't mean he's the first one to take on the identity of Tron,"

"Who was your first?" Zed asked as he comforted Mara's rage.

"A Program named Cyrus," both young Programs held an expression of horror.

"So he murdered those Programs?" Mara anger was once again kindled.

"Beck would never derezz a Program... He's stopped me more than once from executing one Program that was very close to Clu,"

"When did he start? Or I guess when did you recruit him?" Zed continued on.

"I believe it was the same cycle that your friend Bodhi was killed,"

"So HE blew that statue up?" Mara's anger was finally receding.

The two took Tron's silence as a yes.

"Well that explains where he goes and why he's rarely at work,"

"He trusted the two of you, but he didn't trust the Occupation, he would have wanted you to know that too,"

"What do you mean?" Mara asked.

"That was his reasoning for not telling you," the group of Programs stayed silent for a while. All processing the emotions.

"Who are you then?"

"I'm..." Tron collapsed his helmet to reveal his face. "The real Tron," he took his disc and flipped it so the light side was on top and placed it back on his dock. His suit changed back to its white form and his symbolic tetra shaped T formed.

"I knew you were alive!"

"Yes, I'm still alive but you can't let the others know, Beck trusted you and I trusted Beck so I'm telling you, but no one else is to know, understood?"

"Yes, sir!" The Programs responded with enthusiasm.

"Now, I think we still have a few millicycles before anyone wakes up, we should all get some rest, we have a long cycle ahead of us," Tron said with a defeated tone.

* * *

The cycle was only just beginning and Paige was curled up in a ball in her apartment. She covered herself in her long drape and covered her face with her helmet hoping no one would bother her. She had slowly found her way back to her government issued apartment in Argon. It wasn't anything special but it was a step up from a typical Program's price range. In her dark and clouded state the ex-commander didn't noticed or could have cared less about the attendants beyond the counter eyeing her suspiciously. She mindlessly refilled herself on a few glass full of energy before finding her way to her couch and curling up in her cloak. The lights of the city were dimly lit behind her through her pulled curtains causing the curtains to have a battle of blue and orange glow against it. Again, she let her mind glaze over as she ceased to think.

She woke to the large jet thrusters of Recognizers flying by. Looking at the clock that hung on the wall nearby to see that it was already late into the cycle, curfew would be starting soon. Forcing herself up, the ex-commander stumbled her way into her kitchen and began refilling her energy automatically. She looked back onto the couch and stared at Beck's disc wondering what his life was before the Occupation came to Argon.

 _The Occupation…_ Paige reveled to herself before realizing something. She looked down at herself to see that she was still using the orange circuits of a soldier. Without second thought, she took her disc from her back and proceeded to put her regular circuits on. Her orange lines faded and were replaced with white lines that followed a very similar pattern to her soldier's uniform. But it wasn't enough.

 _I still feel like a soldier…_

Another idea sprung to her mind. Once again she fiddled with her disc until her white circuits disappeared and a bold green encased her body. On each of her shoulders were two short horizontal lines that were under one single long vertical one, the insignia of a medic. Paige let out a sigh as she felt a burden she didn't realize she had disappear. Her red personal circuits were gone as well, which she was glad to have hidden, she used to think it went well with the orange of her soldier uniform, made her closer to 'perfection'.

She felt reinvigorated to have her old code running through her circuits. No longer a soldier of "perfection" but a soldier of healing. The green illuminated the couch she was sitting on and changing the colors of the circuits on the sofa from orange to green. Slowly purifying the room, Paige's medic green claimed control over the orange disease. Paige looked around her apartment to see green hues and shades filling every corner of the room. She felt secure, safe against the Occupation's lies and corruption.

Paige ignited her disc to see it's green fiery spinning madly around the edge of her disc, power surged through out her body and her core at the sight. She looked out to see Recognizers flying around with a video playing between their enormous legs. She instantly turn her attention away from it and looked towards her disc, fascinated by it, empowering herself with its color and strength.

After getting lost in the green of her disc, the medic laid down on her couch and put her disc back on her dock. She lifted Beck disc up and ignited it, staring in the white spinning blades.

All of his life is stored in here… the green clad Program thought mindlessly, turning the off the disc and lying it on her stomach.

 _What do I do now…_

More Recognizers were flying over, causing the skyscraper to rattle. Paige got up from her sofa and looked out to see what the commotion was about. The mass of Recognizers and ships in the sky tinted Argon with their corrupted orange glow. Below, Programs could be seen walking towards the Argon Square. Trying to figure out what was going on, the doctor focused on the banners and floating Recognizer.

'Perfect has arrived! All hail Clu!' was what the messages read out.

Not wanting to see any more propaganda, Paige fell to her couch once more, allowing a irritated sigh leave her lungs.

Corruption has arrived. All hail Lies. Paige thought bitterly. She placed Beck's disc on the table and opened up his appearance panel. She starred at the hologram of Beck's face as it was projected from his disc. With the last image and thought being of Beck, her puffy eyes drifted close and sleep washed over Paige.

 _Beck…_

* * *

The overview of Argon from the mountains looked beautiful. The blue and orange glow of city and Occupation lights clashing with other seemed so comforting to Tron. The blue and orange war. The blue was peaceful and calming, simply working and enjoying life. But the orange invaded and started consuming the blue, turning it, poisoning it. What the orange didn't have control over was destroyed and the blue was eliminated, never to be seen again.

Tron squeezed his fist tighter, as if he was trying to join his fingers with his palm.

 _Clu…_ Tron seethed. His mind swirling with hatred of his former ally.

 _This was all your fault!_

While from a distance Argon appears to be purely blue, the city housed Programs of all different colors. Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Pink, White, and even Orange, a rare circuit line to have. Argon had its faults, nothing is perfect. There was crime, discrimination, fights, gangs, theft… murder, a sad but unstoppable event.

Would it be any different if Clu hadn't shown up? Would Beck still be dead?

Tron looked down to his fists and relaxed them to open, allowing his anger to subside.

 _No, i'm the one who caused this. I should have known that this was a fight for me alone. Maybe I can't even do this… I needed a User's help last time, how is this any different?_

Tron let out a large sigh and returned to staring blankly at Argon. The door at the other side of the room opened letting a still heart torn Mara walk into the room. Her careful footsteps alerted Tron that she was on her way to him. His head shook slightly knowing he was in no mood to talk while he sulked.

"Tron…"

"Mara, what are you doing here?" the savior of the Grid asked weakly, lowering his helmet in the process.

"I- I wanted to see if you wanted to talk. Zed is… well he's taking it as how I'd expect him to take things, the same way he did with Bodhi," Mara explained. Tron looked to her.

"He's not angry?" Tron continued to talk in a voice that seemed impossible for legendary Program.

"No. I think deep down he knew the Renegade was right and he liked him too," Mara scoffed lightly at the end of her statement.

"That's… good," Tron went back to starring out at Argon.

"Tron, I know you've been through a lot, but if you want to talk I'm here you know," Mara gently offered, her voice soothing his nerves slightly.

"Thanks, Mara, but I don't do-"

"Talking? Being open? You're acting like him after we lost Bodhi," Mara avoided Beck's name, figuring it would be best for the both of them.

"I've seen hundreds of Programs derezzed, some of them being my best friends, one I almost came to love, but I never talked to anyone about them," Tron's voice was gritty as he talked simply of his past.

"Not even Flynn?"

"Flynn had his own loses to deal with…"

"User's can lose people?"

"You'd be surprised how close Users and Programs are, Mara,"

"Who'd he lose?"

"His wife,"

"What's that?"

"Not what, who. I had trouble understanding it at first but after a while I figured it out for myself,"

Mara stayed silent as she waited for Tron to continue.

"A wife and husband are two Users who decide to devote their lives and loves to each other and live the rest of their cycles together," Tron softly stated, as if the statement itself needed to be said with care for it not to be broken.

"That sounds very romantic and sweet!" Mara exclaimed with joy.

"Flynn wasn't much for talk either, he would rather immerse himself in his work than talk about his problems,"

"Still you're… you know it's not your fault right?" Mara blurted out. Tron looked back to Mara with wide eyes. She took a moment to gather her thoughts before speaking again.

"I blamed myself for Bodhi's death, I think we all did. So I know you're probably doing the same. And I know how hard it feels, how painful it is to tell yourself it's your fault but it's not!" Mara took two easily steps and wrapped her arms around the unsuspecting Tron.

"I know you've been through a lot, a lot more than any of us but you don't have to be alone this time," Mara said softly, her voice once again comforting Tron with tender rapture. Tron wrapped his right arm around Mara and brought her slightly closer, returning her embrace.

"Thank you Mara," Tron murmured softly.

* * *

"Programs! I have some bad news to tell you all," Tron announced to the Programs in the training room.

Efficiently, all the Programs stopped what they were doing and circled Tron.

Link was doing exercises and was letting off some steam. Ever since he stood up with the others against Pavel and his guards he felt strong, on the inside. He felt his new found courage should be accompanied with a body that could do his courage justice. As painful as it was for the past couple of cycles, he would use the hologram room to make weights and walls for him to practice on.

Bartik was still Hopper's best and probably only friend and still hadn't branched out to the other Programs of Able's garage. He and Hopper still stuck to themselves but they weren't hostile towards the other mechanics, just unsure. When Tron called them all, the duo were watching Dash getting his bits kicked as Mara and a few others played a card game.

"Programs… I feel it's time I tell you that we've lost someone crucial to the Uprising," Tron started, his voice indistinguishable through the voice modifier.

"The same Program who started the Uprising, the same Program who saved you from Tesler's grasp, the same Program who fought for freedom and against this notion of 'Perfection'," Tron paused for a moment as the mechanics started to understand who he was talking about.

"The Renegade has been derezzed," Zed wrapped an arm around Mara and turned her toward the elevator to escape the news they already knew. The mechanics started to shout, protest in disbelief, and cry out in shock as the loss of their leader was announced.

"How can he be derezzed? We haven't even gotten to bring the fight to Tesler yet!"

"How! He's the Renegade!"

"He can't be dead! He saved me from The Games!"

"SILENCE!" Tron commanded over the crowd. The mechanics complied instantly.

"The Renegade may be gone, but his dream isn't and neither are we! Look around you! We have each other still! We are not alone!" The Uprising looked to it's fellow programs.

"The Renegade was alone most of the time he was out there. He didn't have a friend to call when he was in trouble or when he was out of his depth. I was too injured for the time you knew him for me too come and help him. Now, you are the Renegade and you are not alone! I am here! You have your friends!" Murmuring was stirring in the audience.

"Don't let the Renegade's death deter you, let it motivate you! The loss of his friend is what motivated him to defy Clu and the Occupation!" A couple of Programs yelled in approval.

"Out there is our home! Out there is our freedom! We can't let Clu stop us from living our lives. Our Defiance is going to tell him that we are a threat to be reckoned with!" More Programs started to cheer in agreement.

"The Renegade may have started the Uprising, but I,you, all of us are starting the Defiance! This is our stand!" Most of the Programs were pumping their fists if not shouting in approval.

"We are Defiance!" Tron shouted once more for effect. The Programs cheered as loud as they could causing the glass of the observation deck to rattle.

"We fight for the Users! For the Programs! For Freedom!" Once more the mechanics shouted their agreement.

Tron let the crowd cheer and roar as he waited for them to quiet down.

"What do we do first?" Bartik asked, his face and body clearly excited from the shouting and motivation speech.

"First, we train, as much as we need to act now, without the Renegade we don't have the forces to take action against Clu," Tron answered. That statement seemed to deter some of the Programs.

"I'll go first," a voice from the back called. The crowd separated and turned toward the source.

The blue hair mechanic stood tall and proud against her peers. Tron starred Mara down.

"Are you sure? If anything, you were the closest to the Renegade, don't you need time to grieve?" Tron asked figuring that Mara and Zed knowing who the Renegade was would have been more than enough for the two to need time to grieve.

"No! Like you said, we shouldn't sit back and grieve for our losses but fight and live for those who have passed!" Mara shot back. As seen before, Mara's forwardness to take things head on and lead sucked others to follow in her footsteps. She was a natural leader.

"Then let's get started," Tron said pulling out his disc as the room around them shifted and changed into the square in Argon.

* * *

AN: Everything afterwards is basically unwritten (typed). So it'll be random when I continue this story. I won't go on hiatus or leave for a year, maybe a month at the most to get what I want down. Hope everyone is enjoying the story (besides the previous chapter…) you don't have to review or anything I just want people to read this, get the crazy idea I have distracting me at all times of the day out for the world to see.

-Rose's Requiem


	6. Chapter 6

Pavel was grasping at the corners of the chair handles. The energy circulating through him was just as he dreamed. What he had longed for had finally come true and now he only had two problems left to cross of his list. Both, he felt would be taken care of easily, now that he was in command.

He gazed over the city of Argon, now under _his_ jurisdiction, under _his_ power, _his_ reign. A dark quick chuckle escaped his mouth with his thoughts. Who knew the Renegade would actually be the downfall of Tesler? Fine, it hadn't been the Renegade to actually strike him down, Pavel figured the spineless bit brained Program would actually do it if he had the chance, but the means of Tesler's deresolution hadn't involved any play on Pavel's part. His hands were truly clean of voxels.

Turning his gaze towards his now gauntleted hands, he felt another surge of new found power travel its way through his body. Not only had Clu been the one to remove the late General, permanently, but he had given his remaining Commander his position, his city, and his uniquely astounding gauntlets.

He flexed his fingers and curled them into a fist. The gloves made small leathery pinching noises from being pressured into itself. With great conviction, he launched his right hand forward. It shot across the room and broke through the glass that separated the outside city air from funneling into the General's throne room. Losing himself to the power, the newly appointed general started to laugh manically. His head tilted backwards as he laughed, towards the Users he envisioned high above him. His arm retreated back to his side and the gauntlet steamed slightly, cooling itself with the near frozen gel substance inside the weapon.

The two Black Guards slowly looked towards each other. One gave a small shrug while the other seemed more uncomfortable of the situation as he stiffened his stance.

"GUARDS!" Pavel's shout reverberated through the mostly empty room. Both jumped to the formal tall ridge stance when being addressed by a superior.

"I want you to go through the ex-commander's room. Bring me anything you find!" Pavel's commanding voice had only grown more arrogant sounding since his promotion. Of course, he hadn't noticed.

The two stationed guards instantly went to the door they stood guard of and waited a brief moment as the door opened. Before they could leave however, they were shouted for once more.

"And bring someone to fix the window," Pavel said as if he just remembered a small fact that needed to be addressed.

The two guards nodded once and exited out of the throne room. The general could hear the hollow sound of their footfalls as they continued down the long corridor until the doors sealed themselves back together. He stepped away from his throne and prowled the room as he had started to do once he was alone. It was quickly becoming his favorite activity to pass the time. Even in his short time of being the head honcho he'd been surprised to find lieutenants and other higher up soldiers waiting for him as he was completely oblivious to his surroundings.

Unknown to Pavel, it wasn't only the occasional guard or officer that he'd let slip his attention. As two Programs watched and studied his actions with stoic expressions.

"Are you sure it's wise to leave him in charge of Argon?" Dyson asked wearily. He knew better that to question Clu, his savior and righteous leader, but that was mainly because he usually kept Dyson informed of his plans. Only withholding information when he knew Dyson could figure it out on his own. And currently, the former monitor couldn't wrap his mind around letting such an incompetent and power hungry Program access to what he craved so badly. It was similar to giving drugs to a drug addict, only worsening their resolve and sending them farther down their depressing state of a life. Though, Pavel would probably disagree about his life and where it currently stood.

"Don't worry, Dyson. He'll make for a good distraction while we allow more important plans to go forward," Clu stated with a mildly soft tone that actually soothed Dyson. And just with that sentence, he realized what Clu's priority really was.

"Ah, of course," Dyson agreed with satisfaction of understanding, softly nodding his head. Clu simply smiled in return.

"Are we still unsure of where the commander went?" Clu asked nonchalantly. Dyson shook his head in response.

"What guards that were in the docks says that her retrieval was stopped by two renegades," Dyson supplied in a formal debriefing.

"Two?" Clu inquired, mildly intrigued.

"One was the infamous Renegade, white with the circuits of Tron. The other was mostly black aside from white spots of circuitry and a tetra of Tron near his neck," Clu silently mulled over the information. A conclusion quickly reaching the forefront of his mind.

"Looks like Tron is running about with his protégé," Clu deduced, his eyes still fixated on the screen that showed their new general, though Dyson felt that his thoughts were on the opposite side of the Grid.

"He took out two Light Tanks and a small platoon of soldiers within a minute. I believe he is healed,"

"Seems so. I guess Cutler was as weak as I expected," Clu's tone didn't betrayed any of his inner thoughts, but unlike others Dyson figured Clu was pleased and plans were going accordingly.

"What of the Super Recognizer?"

"Have it restored," Clu's tone was lighter than usual. His second in command understood that as joy escaping his controlled demeanor.

"How?" Dyson asked in wonder. The ship was massive, even with all the ships they had brought to Argon, could the behemoth machine be lifted? Clu looked to Dyson, his face neutral.

"Fix it where it is," Dyson stood there a moment, running ideas and thoughts through his head.

"Shall I move it once it is capable of flight?"

"No. Keep it down. I want the ship to seem inoperable until it is too late," the Flynn copy informed Dyson.

"Of course. I will take care of it. Personally," Dyson's last word was hardened with conviction. Clu responded with a single curt nod.

"What should we do about the commander?"

"Don't worry about her, she's hardly worth the time. Whether she comes back willing or she finds out about Gallium, she's useless to me,"

"Should I inform the guards to keep an eye out for her?" The fake faced Program was not as comfortable as his leader about just letting a highly trained commander run around without keeping tabs on her.

"I'll let you decide. I trust that you'll be able to handle her," Clu handed the baggage of Paige over to his obviously concerned second in command. Subsequently, ending the discussion of her.

"Oh, there was something interesting about one of the bodies at the dock," Dyson remembered an odd fact in the report he read from one of the officers.

"There was one derezzed body not to far off where the Renegade left all of our Black Guards unconscious. This body didn't have a disc and all discs of the soldiers have been accounted for. Who ever it was, it doesn't seem to be one of ours," Dyson explained. Clu looked to him and if Dyson hadn't known better he would have said Clu was actually confused at the news.

"Interesting. Seeing that you didn't tell me the commander was dead, I'm assuming you have a good reason to think it's not her?"

"There were too many voxels. It couldn't have been her," Clu lowered his head in thought.

"It could be anyone. We have more important things to think about," Clu said lifting his head. His eyes and face completely gone of any previous interest. Dyson nodded.

The two headed for the exit of their observation room.

"I will say Tesler played a dangerous game with that commander," Clu noted.

"He saw her as a valuable asset. Whether she truly is or not is another discussion,"

"She was infected by the ISOs. She needed to be purged on the spot,"

"And is she still infected?"

"I believe she has overcome the infection, only to gain a new one," Dyson knew that Clu was talking about Tron and his band of renegades, but certainly he couldn't think that Paige had gone to them so easily.

"I understand,"

"No. You don't. But I'm confident you'll handle her situation," Clu once again dismissed the Paige situation, leaving Dyson to his own thoughts of the former commander.

-separator-

The holo room was filled Black Guards and mechanics. The former surrounding the latter. The mechanics had their helmets up and all wore the same Tron copy cat design, only in black instead of Child Basic white. Each one had their disc at the ready and their body language screamed a feral aura. The guards were slowly closing the distance on their targets when as if in command the group of would be renegades sprung from their spot and flung themselves at the guards.

Tron made notes of all the mechanics and their skills. Mara was the best in all areas he was looking for. She had leadership, strength, determination, some experience, and even some decent combat skills. Zed was her shadow. Not taking command but knowing to follow her, albeit Tron figured it was more out of blind love than understanding good character. He just hoped any relationship that may or may not form between the two doesn't hinder their ability to fight in the Defiance. Taking a look at Zed and his still more evasive approach to fighting a guard, waiting to attack when it was painfully obvious he had an opening, Tron figured he wouldn't have to worry too much about their relationship gaining any flame.

Continuing his examination, he noted that Link was more than met the eye. Using his small body for speed and agility, he would dodge slashes and kicks and counterattack with lightning fast precision and accuracy. Tron was not surprised or caught off guard by the display of cunning style. Knowing that looks can mean almost nothing in his digital world.

Kevin Flynn looked just like the rest of the Programs, in the old Grid and the new. The only difference was the amount of almost mystic capabilities he held. Seeing Flynn and his User power would probably cause Tron to not have anymore surprises and amazed moments.

Clu was another example, but he was tired of seething for the moment and allowed his thoughts to return to the dying battle.

Most guards had been taken down. The only ones remaining were now double and tripled teamed, which was their blessing in disguise. The mechanics knew how to work together in a garage, but their lack of formal training and rather, streetish, style of fighting hindered their capacity to work well together. The hero of the Grid figured it would be as so, yet he hadn't expected it to be so bad.

Bartik and Hopper were the ones to excel in this area. Knowing each other's movements and having a good understanding of the other's thought process they fought ferociously and very dirty. Tron knew they were in Paige's special little group, but the other mechanics had, hesitantly, vowed for their loyalty. He planned to keep an eye out for any grief or sabotage they may insight, but watching their interactions with the other mechanics had calmed his overcautious and borderline conspiric nerves.

When the fight had finished, Tron rejoined them in the holo room.

"It is good to see you all fight with resolve," Tron declared, no longer using his voice modifier but still covering his identity with a helmet.

The mechanics showed signs of exhaustion, breathing raggedly and bent in odd angles as if the pull of gravity was too much for them. To say Tron was disappointed that his new renegades were so weak bodied, was an understatement. But at least that could be rectified compared to a weak mind, or an unwilling mind.

"But we still have a lot of work to do, and you all have a long way to go before you're all ready to fight," Tron's stern voice drew grunts and sighs of displeasure from the group.

 _If only Beck were here..._

"It's alright guys, we all did pretty good right? For beginners that is," Mara reassured the others. She was one of the few who managed to look unperturbed by the fight, standing tall, eyes breaming with energy and eagerness, as if ready for me. Bartik, three other mechanics Tron hadn't been informed of their names, and surprisingly Link. Tron truly couldn't tell if he was trying to hide his exhaustion or if he really was as steady as Mara looked.

The mechanics looked around at their fellow workers in comical disagreement before looking to Tron. He gave a curt nod knowing these Programs were not Beck. They couldn't take the harsh reality of their abysmal fighting level and use it to further their resolve, rather the opposite.

"I'll show you basic technics and strategies of combat, then I will pair you off to train amongst each other," the masked Program lectured. The mechanics focused their attention on Tron as he made a bigger distance before gathering himself in a stance.

"First is your typical battle stance. A balance between offensive and defensive. This is what you will be using for most of your engagements," Tron started his training once more, hoping that his third and final time would be the last that he would need to.

* * *

The green of the apartment had been the only relief and comfort to Paige. No other aspect of the medium three tenement had brought her peace. She was not one for having physical belongings. Her beliefs, willpower, and strength were the only things she truly cared for, knowing no Program could take those away. Or so she thought.

Trust, something she had hardly any of after the ISO's betrayed her, was crushed. Though, in the back of her mind she knew Beck couldn't have told her who he was because she wouldn't see reason and would have immediately went to arrest him, she still felt the deep welling of pain and hollowness from his true identity.

But she wasn't angry at the Renegade. Her anger was directed at the: Occupation, Pavel, Clu, and Tesler. Mainly Tesler. It had to be him to have ordered the guards to retrieve her, why would Clu order it? She had done nothing, aside from a glance in his direction, to warrant an arrest. It wasn't the first time Paige's loyalty was tested. When she was arrested and forced to fight against the guards and eventually Pavel he hadn't heard any of her pleas. He had taken Pavel's word over hers before any evidence had been shown.

Slowly ever so slowly, Paige was starting to feel again. The inner eating of hollowness was subsiding as it was feed and replaced by anger. A small but extremely dense and sluggish rage that threatened to consume her. She was more comfortable with anger than hollowness. She could use the anger to be stronger, faster. It made her more determined, emboldened her strive, and satisfied once it was used correctly. The emptiness slowed her down, froze her in her place, and distracted her. Let alone the pain that it brought with it. The crippling, agonizing, destroying pain that she was recently enveloped in.

The medic took a deep breath and sat up on her couch. Her rage was undoubtedly tied with her resolve and motivation, with its revival she wanted to move, start rectifying her problems.

Walking out to her small balcony, she allowed her eyes to roam over the contrasting city. It's bright neon blue glow and the bright orange of the Occupation made it look at war. She caught sight of a monitor showing the wanted Programs. It wasn't a surprise that her picture was on it. She remembered the feeling all to well of seeing her face on the wanted postings. There was one small difference from her previous time, though. Instead of her name being cmdr_Paige it was now simply Paige.

 _I guess it's official._

With that thought the last of her emptiness had vanished. The dark hatred now completely filled her and drove her. She was itching to use it.

 _I better get out of here before they come searching._

She glanced around her apartment, checking to see if there was any valuable object in it. Her eyelids shot open as she remembered her only two true possessions. The picture of her and her two friends from Gallium, and her Monome.

Before she knew it, she was outside her apartment building and through the dark alleyways of Argon. Where she was going she didn't know, but she didn't care. For now she would find a place to hide her picture and monome and find the nearest guard and derezz him, or something along those lines.

* * *

It is oddly quiet around the deserted garage. Surrounded by debris of the fallen Super Recognizer and barred from any civilians, the destroyed area served more as a foreshadowing than anything. A great machine brought down by two lowly Programs.

Dyson sneered at the thought of how this great vessel had fallen by the hands of two. It had took them far too long to build it just to be crippled by a lucky explosion. The Program merely shook his head in disappointment. At least it was only crippled, badly, than destroyed completely. Silver lining he supposed.

Turning to the large platoon of engineers and soldiers pulled from Tesler's ship, he motioned for them to start their orders. Having been informed of their mission on the ride over, the lot of Programs went straight to work. It would be a while before any true progress could be made and even longer for the behemoth to once again fly but Dyson was confident he could use this 'distraction' as Clu had put it to good use.

It was disheartening, to say the least, when Clu had told him that the project he had worked on for so long, did his best to maintain its secrecy, and find the best of mechanics and engineers to perform the job was nothing more than a distraction. But the fact that Clu had something bigger in mind gave Dyson reassurance. Clu trusted him enough to make sure this was taken care of. Along with their commander dilemma, well... that's how he saw it anyway.

He past his time by kicking a few of the rubble from his directed path around the area his troops were working. Not caring about the scuffs or dirt that was now marking and clinging to his boots. His mind wasn't on the groups of Programs that were at work around him, but the group of Programs that were at work far around him, working in the shadows to bring down perfection.

 _Damn renegades…_

* * *

The air was stale, filled with uncirculated air that consisted mainly of sewer vapor. The streets and walls were damaged and lacked care, their original shine now a dull smug that failed to reflect the light properly. Some of the circuit lines that ran along the buildings were out in certain areas and some of them flickered due to a influx in their power current. The light posts faired a worse fate as most of them seemed out or taken down, and judging by their jagged stems where the poles used to be it was vandalism that removed them.

The Programs of the surrounding area seemed as badly kept as the buildings and lights. Half of them were grim and poor looking. The other half was the opposite, tough and menacing. It was obvious crime was the dominating economic factor in these parts. The shady looking Programs that had to be dealing drug stimulants. The dazed and unconscious Programs that were the result of those drugs who were littered around the darker areas of the city.

The only thing to bug the wondering medic was the smell, which was easily handled by her helmet that she wore at all times. She could handle the gang Programs with ease and no drug crazed junky would be able to take her either. Though, it was going to be hard, she knew she would find a good opponent, most likely a group, to help her train. Concealed under her cloak, her secondary disc was still held in her grasp. Her thumb was absentmindedly stroking the disc, something she caught herself doing more and more.

She had just past through a particularly bad back alley with a corrupted barrel that was burning while three homeless Programs were huddled around it. Two other Programs were laying on what seemed to be some form of a mattress made from a substance that looked to be soft but also gave off a disgusting odor so strong even her mask couldn't stop it from getting to her noise. At least she hoped it was the 'mattresses' if it wasn't then she figured those Programs were far worse than she originally thought.

The opening she had reached after her little stroll through the wonderful alley seemed cleaner than the rest of the areas she had been. Across the open area was an abandoned building that looked to be a former hospital. It was like all the other buildings she had walked by but with more makeshift barriers on the windows. No matter where she looked, the inside of the hospital was not visible. It was under one of the major freeways that circulated Programs to the nicer sections of Argon to the middle class of Argon, completely skipping over Purgos. Though, why was this small clearing better kept than the rest of Purgos? Especially the alleyway connecting it. The answer would soon be given to Paige.

Shadowed Programs started to form from the dark of the hospital, merging into a steadily growing group that formed on the edge of the circular open area across from Paige. Looking to her flank she saw that the Programs from the alleyway were running around the corner onto the main street, hoping to avoid what they knew was sure to happen. Even the two Programs Paige suspected reeked of sour energy and recycled unclean army boots had managed to wake themselves and stumble away. A grin had managed to find its way onto her lips. This was turning out to be exactly what she was looking for.

The mob of Programs had stopped growing and counted to be around 45 individual Programs. The ex-commander's grin broke into a full smile. She was more than excited to start using two discs, exhilarated to be precise. Her fingers tingled with anticipation as her eyes flared with fury. These Programs weren't the cause of Paige's anger they were just an ends to a mean, and her madness was blind it didn't care who it fought, just that it was given a challenge.

"Look at this boys, we gots ourselves a lost Program," one of the front Programs stated.

"By the looks of him he ain't from around here," another said, sounding female.

"We'll have to give him a formal welcoming," the group slowly started to descend on Paige.

She didn't respond to any of their threats, but snuck her disc into her right hand from under her cloak. She continued to stand her ground and stay her stance as they slowly surrounded her. Forgetting the stale air, the flickering lights, and the more innocent Programs that were no longer nearby, she became hyper aware of her senses. The sound of each individual footstep made, the fidgeting of some of the gang members most likely out of eagerness, and how some of them were going to use a baton while others had pulled out their disc and ignited them.

It didn't take long for the first one to run at Paige. He charge was slopping and jokingly open for a return attack. With his disc raised far to high and his body at a ridiculous angle to her he was easily cut down. With a bolt of speed, she had stepped forward and made a simple slash through the Program's abdomen. She returned to her normal standing pose as the voxels fell to ground and splashed over to the other's feet.

Grunts and roars of rage and came from the surrounding group. When the next attacked it was four at once, one from her front, two to her left, and the last to her right. Cutting down the one to her right with Beck's disc and spinning low to thrust it into the enemy from her front before she rolled out of the way of the two attacks, both missing by a good few centimeters. She swept their legs out from under them with a lower swing of her leg. Following up with the momentum she spun faster and used both discs to obliterate the closer Program and rain voxels upward into the air. Falling down and showering the other Programs nearby. With a swift throw, she took out the last Program. Her toss was angled downward, when it hit the ground it bounced back up and took out two more of the circling targets before bouncing of a broken slab of what used to be a building and returning to her.

A few murmurs came from the crowd about Paige's two discs, at the same time a few of the Programs in the back had run off. At least the weak hearted Programs would be able to spread the news of her destruction.

The next attack would be the last as the thugs didn't attack in a set number but a stream of their forces. Discs started to fly and arcing through the air while baton ends were coursing with electrical energy. Most of her foes were untrained which allowed for easy dodging and control of the battle, even if she was facing more than 30 Programs.

Taken down by a non flashy counter, or cut in pieces by a dazzling dance like return of attacks with her two discs, she was making it look like child's play. Adding steps to moves she was comfortable with and finding a use for her second disc, and finding new skillful attacks that would have to come with more practice but seemed infinitely useful. This idea for training was working out wonderfully in her favor. Not that she was completely flawless in her fighting, managing to get a few scrapes and bruises and almost losing her head only to be saved by another gangster to had accidentally tripped her for his own attack.

By the end of it she felt well exercised and vigorously spent. A good first practice run. Exiting the way she came leaving the massive pile of voxels spread around the open ground, she found that there were Programs peering around walls and hiding spots who had watched the entire event unfold. She ignored them as she walked back to the main streets of Purgos to head back to her hideout. An aggravated sigh escaped her as she realized how far she was from it and didn't have a Light Bike to use. Guessing from her current placement the people around her wouldn't have one. She decided against turning back and rummaging around the voxels of her dead practice dummies to find one and started her long trudge back to 'home'.

* * *

AN: So Gallium is the original place Paige is from right? I might have my facts mixed. I don't know how you all feel about Link but i'm doing a complete 180 for him. If you don't like it just pretend he's Zelda's Link, sure that'll help the change (shrugs). One more thing I'd like to say, I am by far no means a good writer. No training, no classes, just what i've read on this site, so I won't be pulling out any amazing scenes that blow your mind with quality, I just try to get the characters right. The characters define and make the story, the story shouldn't define the characters. (Except Link cause he was originally a nobody).

PS: Hope is a wonderful thing. Do hold onto yours.


	7. Chapter 7

"Mara, Zed, I'd like to speak to you in private," the white armored Program asked.

His training of the mechanics was going as expected, slowly and painfully. They could hardly take a beating let alone fight back, to Tron's standards anyway. Mara had been commenting on how they were just regular Programs from a regular garage, the moves they used were mostly on the spot or taught to them by Able after the Occupation showed up so they could defend themselves if the need arisen. The need had definitely arose. Tron had mumbled something along the lines of 'Beck never complained this much' when he had the group do one of Beck's usual combat simulations and all of the members failed. Recalling his apprentice's failure due to his helmet being 'itchy'. That made for a good laugh. At least his next run of the simulation was not wasted and he had managed to save the holo hostages.

Having heard Tron's call Zed had pulled Mara from her analyzing of Bartik's attempt at the mission. Reluctantly, she followed Zed still watching Bartik who was about to be the first one to actually complete the simulated rescue.

"I have a job for you two," Tron announced once the three were out of ear shot from the other mechanics.

"A job? Like a real job or a simulated job?" Zed accused, receiving an elbow to the rib from Mara. Tron figured he liked the attention, and pain, it gave him to do snide remarks, if it was from Mara that is.

"A real job. As you know we're short handed in people to fight Clu, so I am going to send you two off to get recruits,"

"Recruiting? That's it?" Zed again received an elbow for his less than compliant remark.

"Yes, if it was up to me, I'd do it personally, but seeing that I do not know the Programs of the Grid as well as I used to, I try to stay away from others. You two are my second choice for this mission. I know you haven't finished the hostage rescue simulation yet but together I think you will be able to manage. You two perform very well together," Tron's last sentence was more appreciative than he would have liked it, but he still wanted to help the two idiots together. Yes, both of them were idiots. While one was too blind to see that the other was head over heels, the other was too scared to even tell her how he feels. At first, he thought a bond deeper than friendship would cause liabilities, but it was already at that point. Now, he wanted them together just so they could have some solace in their struggle for freedom. Beck thought Tron to be heartless and uncaring, and sadly he was to his apprentice, only because he knew he could handle it. Time was not on their side and it wasn't now. Another reason he had to send two vastly under trained Programs on a mission.

"Oh, thanks! We've known each other for so long, hard not to work well together," Mara replied off handedly.

"Right! As if we're made for each other!" Zed commented before his eyes bulged from his head.

"Made for each other?"

"Like partners,"

"What do you mean?"

"Hey wait a minute, you said we were your second choice? Who's your first?" Zed acted quickly, changing the subject. Tron, sadly, had to give credit to mechanic for keeping his cover, he had half a mind to try and let him finish his slip up.

"My first choice is and always will be the Renegade," he informed them solemnly. There was a silence that hung in the air after his statement.

"I have to brief, you may know Argon and the best spots so I want to talk strategy,"

He started walking over to the observation deck. The other two started to follow only to be stopped by a loud cheer of excited approval come from behind them. The three turned to see the mechanics who watched Bartik's mission cheering and running over to the elevator. Once they had reached it, the doors swung open to let out an exhausted looking Bartik. He was immediately swarmed and congratulated by his fellow renegades. Mara and Zed ran over to give their words of approval while Tron turned and kept walking towards the higher deck, a smirk playing on his lips.

One step closer.

* * *

"This is what Argon's like now?!" Zed hissed to his companion, as he stared down a group of sentries walking by the booth he was sitting at.

"Zed, don't antagonize them! We're here on a mission," she whispered back while pulled on his arm that lay on the table. The yank did its job causing Zed to look back at Mara in anger filled eyes. Once he looked to Mara, his expression visibly relaxed.

"You're right, but who's going to be here who would join us? I think any Program we talk to in here will turn us in without a second thought," he looked around the crowded club which was mostly sentries and guards, only a few regular Programs sprinkled in, who looked to be on the army's side anyway.

"What about that girl who took Able's bike?" Mara asked after a small pause.

"Pearl?" Zed shot back, bewildered that Mara would bring her up.

"Yeah, do you think her friends would join us?" this was the last thing he expected her to ask him. The girl who took Able's bike, nearly destroyed it, nearly got the two of them killed, and was a down right bitch.

"Could you imagine her fight with us?" he rolled his eyes as if the possibility didn't exist.

"Can you imagine her with the Occupation?" his close friend countered. This made him think, as she had a point. Pearl didn't like authority; she played by her own rules, or her boyfriend's rules. She wouldn't sit well with the other mechanics, and Tron would probably be against it as she was a loose end who could very easily jeopardize the whole Defiance.

"I don't think that's the problem either. The problem is whether or not we can trust her," Zed let out a strained sigh, "She would be a big risk. How do we know she wouldn't turn to Clu?" he reasoned.

"Why don't we go ask her?" Mara asked as if she was in the room and looking toward the exit. Turning his head, Zed was shocked to find Pearl walking in with a few of her friends from the place in the shipping units. Her expression was not reassuring, as she seemed to be a living form of hatred and disgust.

"Is that really a wise idea? She looks like she's about ready to derezz a Program," he said with hesitance.

"Fine, I'll go talk to her," Mara went to stand but was stopped by Zed's hand on her shoulder.

"No, I will, I just don't think she's in any mood to listen to us," Zed proceeded over to the pink haired Program who had seated herself in a corner booth. She was alone, her friends leaving her to get the drinks. She noticed his approach when he was only a few steps away from the booth she was at, her expression not changing at his appearance.

"How's it going Pearl?" Zed asked sitting down in the booth. His usual nervousness and fear cast aside as he had a bigger issue to worry about than talking to a pretty girl.

"Do I LOOK like I want to talk?" Pearl nearly shouted.

"What happened? What's wrong?" his voice was genuinely concerned. The rage she was showing was not normal or safe and he figured it had something to do with the Occupation.

"They happened," she spat glared around the room at the soldiers, "They came into our territory and told us to take a hike, the Users they think they are to tell us to move on OUR territory,"

"What'd you guys do?"

"We kicked their sorry asses that's what we did," at this Pearl's expression wavered and she seemed to grow sad before bouncing back to anger.

"They didn't try to get more soldiers?"

"Oh they did. They must have brought their whole army cause I've never seen so many Black Guards in my life," her gaze never broke from the dance floor where Black Guards stood and talked to one other.

"You guys got out okay it seems," Zed noted lightly, which was obviously the wrong move. Pearl's eyes shot to Zed with a fury that made him freeze.

"Do you think we all made it out okay? You think we just walked away without a scratch?" her voice was deadly. A pure pit of anger mixed with a low growl that showed the restraint and the glare that could kill if looks could. Zed shot his hands up in defense and shook his head violently.

"No, sorry, I just wanted to talk. I'm sorry, what happened?" he hoped he was conveying sympathy over his nervous annoying pleading voice that was his usual choice. Pearl's eyes became down cast and lost most of their anger. Finding the hands in her lap more interesting, she kept her head down hovering over the tabletop.

"They killed a lot of us," was all she murmured. The expert mechanic was unsure of how to handle her suddenly depressed mood. He turned to Mara and beckoned her over when she had caught his eyes. Sliding into the other side of the circular booth, she saw Pearl and immediately felt sympathy for the girl and slid over to wrap an arm around her. Not seeming to care about the touch, Mara continued to press against the young Program as she began to weep softly.

"They killed…" she started before a ragged gasp for air cut her off, "They killed Gage," as this she broke down, letting out the tears she was holding in. Mara instinctively wrapped her other arm around her and pulled her into a comforting embrace. They stayed like this for a long period, Pearl not ceasing her torrent of stinging tears. When her two friends had come back, Zed quickly took them aside to tell them what was happening, only to find the two bulky Programs crying on his shoulder and holding on tightly. After the waterworks of the three rebellious teens, they all sat down at the booth and decided to have a less heartfelt chat, the three looking quite drained and tear stricken.

"I know you guys are grieving but…" Mara started but found it hard to finish.

"Let's get some fresh air, we know a spot that is perfect to clear our heads," Zed offered, thinking of a spot he and his three friends would go to get some peace of mind, now he only had one left.

What happens if I lose Mara? Or if I die? What will happen to her? She'll be all alone…

The three nodded and the group proceeded to exit the infested club for a more peaceful setting.

* * *

"This is a cool spot," Pearl commented as she looked over the edge to see the distant dots of Programs and soldiers walking the street. She was back to her normal self, hiding the soft side of her somewhere inside. The other two had followed her example and showed nothing of what they were in the club.

"So you guys heard of the Recognizer that crashed near Able's place right?" Zed started as he looked to the three gang members.

"Yeah, isn't it some massive ship? Same one that flew from Purgos few kilocycles ago?" one of the bigger brutes asked.

"Yeah, same one. Well it crashed and it was the Renegade who brought it down," Zed continued. This seemed to intrigue the others.

"You're serious? He's just one Program! No way he brought that thing down!" the same brunt exclaimed as the others became speechless with shock. Though the trust was it was two Programs who more or less brought it down, no one except three Programs knew that, now only one was alive.

"So why are you telling us?" Pearl regained her composure first.

"Because we're working with that Program," Mara stated confidently.

"You guys are working with the Renegade now?" the other brute was clearly distraught at this turn of events.

"Yes, we're going to start fighting against Tesler," the female mechanic continued in her pride filled voice, "We're looking for others to join us," she let that settle in the air so that other three would catch her meaning.

"You're asking us?" Pearl didn't buy it.

"Yeah! Think about it Pearl, you and your friends can have revenge! You can get back at Tesler!" Zed pressed. It was the ultimatum, now or never.

"Think about Gage," this brought back the anger in the young Program, "He wouldn't let others walk over him, he wouldn't stay on the sidelines while Tesler and his troops took over the city!"

"…No…" the two mechanics stared in dismay as Pearl looked and talked to the ground, "No…"

"Pearl, please-"

"No, he wouldn't!" Pearl exploded. The mechanics jumped back, as Pearl figuratively let out an explosion of energy, "No, he wouldn't stand by and watch at his turf was taken over. Especially, from those orange robots!" Mara and Zed looked to each other at the random insult in confusion, raising and eyebrow and shrugging before turning back to the furious Program.

"When can I start?" Pearl's gaze was filled with anger, determination, and some sadist joy that made Zed cringe, knowing that look from when Mara was infected by the smoke a kilocycle ago.

"Whoa, let's calm down a little Pearl, we need to get you guys trained first," Zed motioned for her to relax, which backfired. Pulling her disc out, she walked over to the backtracking Zed and instantly swiped his feet, only to find nothing as he leaped in the air to avoid it. She shot her disc arm outward to his center mass but was once against met with nothing as he arced his body to the side. Following through, she slashed at the green circuited Program. Continuing to use his agility to his advantage, Zed manage to dodge several more attacks from Pearl before he had her in the basic arm twist Tron had drilled into him and she was prone on the ground.

"I told you, you need training," Zed stated once more, only slightly arrogantly, which was added to by his out of breath state. Mara only rolled her eyes at the sight of his pride.

"Well I bet he still hasn't taught you this one," snapping her wrist suddenly, Pearl was able to free herself from his hold and managed a well placed punch on Zed's crotch. He immediately felt the wrenching pain as his hands shot to the damaged area and he cried out before agony turned it into a pitiful whimper. The other two guys looked on in sympathy and faked pained expressions as they imaged the pain for themselves. When Pearl stood she saw Mara give her a nod of approval, which she returned with a smug grin.

"Alright, let's see this Renegade," Pearl said flipping her hair from her face. The four made their way to the exit while a slowly limping Zed followed far behind.

"I don't think Tron even knows that one," he breathed out in pain.

* * *

When the group of Programs reached the top level of the hideout they were greeted by a masked Program.

"I see we have new recruits," he stated as he analyzed his new troops.

She definitely has an attitude problem. He looks like he's build tough, but probably isn't trained in the slightest. And he looks… like he could hold his own, but could care less to be here. Tron deducted.

"Well, they kind of want to take a look around the place first," Zed corrected meekly, which earned him a hard stare from Tron.

"This is not a club. You don't get to look around and see if it's something you and your friends can play and have fun in," Tron barked back causing both Zed and Mara to lower their shoulders.

"Calm down, old timer, I'm here to stay, these two will too," Pearl stated as she walked past Tron without fear from his intimidating stand. The four Programs still in the elevator just watched in awe as she effectively brushed off the greatest Program on the Grid as if he were a mere janitor Program, though Pearl's friends didn't know that, but could still feel his power. Instead of acknowledging Pearl, Tron addressed the other two.

"So, you two. What are your names?" he asked sternly.

"I'm Ralph!" the biggest one stated first. His hair was a simple brown, medium in length and unkempt. His face was almost vial shaped, like one of a mad scientist. It was rather soft for such a big looking guy as his eyebrows were rather normal, his eyes were bright and open with the iris matching his hair color, his nose was round and flat, which worked well with his large rounded chin. Though, he was friends with Pearl, he seemed to be a rather kind looking Program. How did he get mixed up with her and Gage?

"Gavistan! Everyone just calls me Gav," the other announced. He wasn't as big as Ralph but was definitely well built and didn't show any areas of fat that Ralph had around his stomach and legs. He wasn't as tall either but seemed to match Tron's height. His hair was a dark rich brown, half the lengths of Ralph's and looked well maintained. He seemed far older than Ralph and based on a closer look he was definitely nowhere near Zed or Mara's age. The wrinkles and hardening look of his eyes helped steer that train of thought. His brows were thin and a lighter shade than his hair, his eyes were sharp and a light gray with a greenish hue, his nose was straight and slightly larger, and his 5 o'clock was nearly invisible due to common lighting of the Grid.

I like this one. Tron thought approvingly as he continued to scan the aging Program before him. He was very well built throughout his whole body, and his stance proved to have seen some amount of training and combat. Who ever he was, this wasn't his first war, and based off the look in his eyes it wouldn't be his last.

"Welcome to Defiance, Programs," Tron nodded his head, receiving a curt nod from the built Program and a sloppy hesitant one from the bulkier one.

"Zed, Mara, take your two new friends to meet the others, I'm going to have a talk with your… nice one," Tron stated turning to follow Pearl who had started watching the mechanics practicing. She definitely was holding onto a lot of anger, and Tron knew that if it wasn't tended to, it would lead to liabilities when she worked with a group. Once again, she ignored Tron as he neared and continued to hold his intimidating pose.

"Do you really think this'll win a war, Renegade?" Pearl asked without looking up from the glass.

"It can, we just need to train, and get more loyal Programs," Tron answered as he turned to look at the glass.

"There's an army out there!" she yelled back, facing his emotionless visor, "You're crazy if you think you can beat Clu!" she barked.

"How do you know Clu's out there?" Tron asked knowing the announcements hadn't explicitly said Clu was here, just perfection.

"Who else has an army that big? I doubt he'd just let Tesler quadruple his own guys," she kept on.

"I believe it's ten times the original force Tesler was given to take Argon," Tron correctly with his same even tone.

"How could you possibly know that?!" her arms shot out as he glared at the mask, willing him to break.

"Because I once worked for Clu, I know him better than any other Program," Tron admitted.

"You used to work for Clu?! And they wonder if I can be trusted, can we even trust you!?" she exclaimed.

"He betrayed me! He betrayed all of us! He betrayed the Users, the Programs, the Grid!" the white armored Program shot back.

"So why are you only just now starting this Uprising?" the pink haired rebel interrogated.

"It's a Defiance. I couldn't until now,"

"Why?"

"I can't tell you,"

"Oh, just one more thing we're supposed to trust you with huh?" she grilled. He definitely wasn't making it easy.

"Yes, like it or not this is how it's going to be. We need to stick together to beat Clu, why I didn't start this earlier is in the past and can't be changed. We have to focus on the future!" he was expecting this from the teen but was growing tired of it, the stress of more pressing issues taking over his mind. There was a long silence after his outburst, as Pearl turned back to the glass, not watching the mechanics as they were introduced to Ralph and Gav, but thinking heavily on the situation.

"I already said, I'm here for the long run, I just wanna know what and who I'm dealing with," Pearl announced.

"Good, I can tell you'll be a great ally to the Defiance," he answered.

"Ally huh? Weird way of saying pawn," she deadpanned.

"We're all pawns until we stop Clu," he rectified.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it, Clu's the bad guy, no need to cram your propaganda down my throat," she waved off before silence once again took them.

"Who'd he take from you?" Tron decided to ask, knowing this was the reason she was so bitter and angry.

"Who said anything about him taking anyone?" she muttered darkly.

"Were they close to you?"

He decided to wait her out, knowing she'd talk. Having told her about his betrayal, she'd talk about her own, or loss to be more accurate.

"I was close to all of them," she started weakly, "They were my friends. My family. They were all I had in this world. Everyone else just… threw me away, like I was worthless. It didn't matter how hard I tried, there was always someone better than me, someone faster, who would work longer. I was never good enough in the regular world.

"Then Gage found me. We started hanging out together when we both got fired. We were both rejected from that world… so we made our own. Found our own way to keep busy and get things done. Before we knew it, we had started something. A group of Programs who were outcast from their worlds because they weren't good enough… and now… half of them are gone, including Gage," her voice soft now, defeated and tired. So when the tears came, she didn't try to stop them.

Tron only stared at her, knowing the feelings she was going through only feeling a hundred times worse knowing the force that took away what he held closest to him was a friend he trusted, one he thought he could go to in his times of need, but no. He was just a dark hollow shell, waiting to come out and destroy all those near to him. For what exactly? Tron figured he'd never know. Clu masked it so well, sometimes Tron still dreamed that he was in the Grid with the ISO, with Flynn, with Clu and Dyson helping to create the perfect system.

"We should get the others, you know. Before it's too late," Tron stated calmly.

"I know," Pearl's voice had given up its fight to be rebellious and was now quiet and accepting.

"Does Gav know where they are?"

"I think so,"

"Good. I'll send him out while you and Ralph stay and train," he glanced at the girl next to him and began second guessing himself.

"Sounds good to me,"

"On second thought, you should probably get some rest," he offered more gently.

"I don't need rest," her voice was soulless.

"I doubt that. Get some rest. Come back when you're ready. I'll be sure to have you start working with Mara," he informed her.

"Why her?"

"Because I have a feeling you two will be needing a bit more time to work together to get used to each other,"

"I'm used to her," Pearl stated weakly.

"No, you're not. You're both leaders. Strong headed, determined, leaders, but you have different frames of mind. Whatever, her and Zed said to get you down here, whatever she did for you, will probably be the little that you two have with nice terms," this bit of new information elicited a small harsh laugh from Pearl.

"That sucks. I was hoping for a girlfriend. Never had one before," she said genuinely disappointed.

"Oh, you'll be friends, just not when you're on the field," Tron said lighthearted.

"Again, how could you even think you know that?"

"Because I know your types. Seems to be the only kind of woman around this city," Tron joked.

"Maybe you just mixed up in the wrong crowds, old timer," Pearl teased feeling her spunk coming back.

"I don't think it's me, I think it was another Program who started this. He's the reason,"

"The reason for what?"

"For everything," Tron stated boldly.

* * *

The large commotion around the elevator had caught the attention of all the mechanics who were training. Mara had been one of the last to go and see what was grabbing everyone's attention as she was just finishing her sparring match with Zed. It was an odd feeling sparring with Zed again. Bringing up the memories of a time before the Occupation when Beck and Bodhi were the other two of the squad. The two would compete on so much it was hard to tell when they weren't trying to best each other in a friendly game of rivalry. Zed and her would compete too, but only on the field. Now, that friendly rivalry came back and the partner she used to fight against was in front of her. She hadn't realized it until the first time they sparred. Zed was far different from when they had lost Bodhi, his witty comments weren't so harsh, they were funny and friendly. Not that they weren't after Bodhi's death but they were darker and cruel, and they were never really meant for anyone but himself, she was just close enough to him to hear him mutter the jokes.

Thinking of Zed's change worried her. Not necessarily about him but about herself. How had she changed? What did she lose after Bodhi? What did she gain, if anything? Pain and loneliness was her immediate answer. Zed was not the lighthearted goof ball, but a darker, hate driven Program with self esteem issues that were brought to the surface and worsened instead of healed. Beck had… become distant and guarded, but she knew it was for good reason. After giving it second thought, she realized he hadn't really changed so much. His drive to see the best in others close to him, especially himself, was still there. He still pushed himself and went past his limit to find a new one. It always made her do the same. He was a beacon to their group, most of all to his best friend. That was another thing she knew about Beck and Bodhi, they were a pair, brothers. At the same time, she and Zed were closer to each other than either Beck or Bodhi. They were… something. Back then she didn't see, but she knew it was there, in the back of her mind just starting to bloom, something more than just a close companionship. Only now could she feel that same buzz, getting a taste of her old life, of her old friend.

She decided to put the fluttering feeling in her heart aside for the moment and focus on the crowd in front of her. Boosting herself on her tippy toes, she could see Tron's helmet through the crowd. He stood next to a large group of other Programs, about half the size of the group of mechanics.

"Calm down. Give us space," Tron said in his usual authority voice. Following their leader's command, the renegades backed up and spread around the main entrance. Tron and the others headed for the center, obvious that he wanted to talk to everyone.

"We have new members to our Defiance, renegades," Tron stated after reaching an appropriate spot, "We will be working with them from this point on so make sure to get to know their names. I will evaluate them and continue to gather you all in groups of similar skill levels. For now, keep sparring as planned. You can meet your new members after you are done,"

Having just finished coming to the main entrance only to be ordered back and wait didn't make Mara too happy. Instead of complaining, she did what she was told and proceeded to the original match platform the holoroom had generated for her and Zed. Starting off a new set of rounds the pair began their disc duel.

"Hey Zed," Mara started while they were in the middle of small break.

The two sat against a wall of the holoroom that was attached to the glass preview area. They were nearly touching. Mara had curled her self into a ball, her legs pressed against her chest as her arms wrapped around them to keep them in place. Zed was a little more casual having only one leg propped up and not as tight as hers.

"Yeah?" Zed looked to her after taking a gulp of energy from a bottle.

"Do you remember when the four of us would hang out at the field and spend micros talking and having fun?" her voice was distant, clearly remembering the said times.

"Of course. Not that I think about it as often, but yeah I think about the better days from time to time," Zed answered in a lighter tone than was his normal.

Better days… Mara thought to herself.

"Doesn't this feel kind of like that?" she wondered, turning to look at him.

"Yeah, a little," he responded with content agreement.

"Just a little?"

"Well, you know it's not the same without Bodhi or Beck tearing it up in the court next to us," he smiled. Something she was glad to see.

"You're right," she nodded giving him her own smile.

"But it's… weird. Now that they're both gone, I don't feel like I have to worry about either one of them,"

"You mean like when Beck was gone doing his thing?"

"Yeah. I always got worried he was off doing something he'd regret, something he wouldn't normally do because Bodhi was gone," Zed shook his head softly, "I guess it wasn't exactly normal, but," he took a pause to look at the other mechanics fighting, "It wasn't a bad thing,"

"It's weird how we lost Bodhi and we all changed, but now that Beck's gone too, it seems like things are going back to the way they used to be," Mara rested her head against her knees.

"I've been thinking the same thing. And I think I figured out a clever little analogy for them. Beck and Bodhi were like two halves of the same thing, when one was gone, the other tried to compensate and do its best on its own,"

"How is that clever?"

"I'm not done yet! You and me are the same way, well in a different way. Doesn't make any sense I know, let me finish. We were two pairs that worked well together, so well that we had become two halves of a bigger thing! When our half saw their half in… well half, we worried and tried to help compensate but we didn't know how things in their half worked so we ended up trying to figure it out and changed ourselves to fit their needs. So when that last half disappeared, we became our own whole thing, not some weird quad pair thing," Zed finished.

"Zed… I think that's more complicated than clever," Mara joked.

"I know. You know I'm not good at explaining things,"

"Or coming up with them," she teased.

"Hey! You understand it don't you?"

"Of course I do. You said it yourself, we're a pair," she comforted unnecessarily.

"But we're not a pair like they were. They were closer, almost seemed like they knew what each other was thinking,"

"They're like brothers," Mara simplified.

"Right, we're not as close as them, and I don't see you as a sister," Zed added softly. Mara was glad to see the friend she had come to know over the cycles next to her. The one that wasn't afraid to tell her how he really thought deep down about important things, emotional anyway.

"Then what do you see me as?" her voice was incredibly gentle and inviting. Zed could feel the effects as they ran through his body, calming, relaxing, and encouraging him.

"Mara… about us…" he started slowly, turning to look at the ground, "I wanted to know more about you, more than I already did. I wanted to be the Program who knew you. I wanted to be like Beck or Bodhi, knowing what the other was thinking, being able to watch out for them, help them when they were down," he paused.

"But when Bodhi was… I changed, like you said. I was so mad at everything. I couldn't understand why he was taken from us. What did he do? But I couldn't figure it out and that only pissed me off more. Then the Renegade showed up and you started looking at him. I wanted to be what you looked at. Now, I realize that it was me being angry that worked against me, but back then I couldn't see it. I'm changed because of that anger. I don't know if I'll be the same Zed you knew before the Occupation. And that's what causes me to be so afraid, that I won't be what worked so well with you. I forgot how to make those jokes that make you laugh so much, I haven't listened to you talk about your emotions in a really long time. So I'm afraid that what's going to happen is that I'll lose you. Mainly, I mean I'm afraid I'll lose you as friend. I hate it. I hate being afraid of losing the person I've become closest to. I hate the thought of losing the one person I love," he finished, letting out a sigh.

He had peered up at Mara a few times during his speech before looking down. It wasn't that he couldn't look her in the eye it was just that Mara failed at hiding her emotions and he feared if he saw anything to discourage him he'd freeze up. But he had finished, he let out everything he had been holding onto since Able's garage.

His arms were wrapped around under his knee, his let still pressed up against him. It took a second to register but he started feeling a pressure against his shoulder and then before truly acknowledging it, he was wrapped in Mara's arms. Being pulled into her, he was pressing against his wrapping friend. Like a roller coaster, his nerves were calm before becoming highly on tension and then falling to a warming relaxation of bliss, one he had not felt in a very long time.

"I love you too,"

* * *

AN: (Gonna be bigger than usual) I guess I'll start by saying I became a little distracted from this project. I had a sudden explosion of inspiration for another idea and had to get it down. Almost 7k of words in one night, it was nice. Anyway, that put me three days off track and the feelings from the story are still kind of looming so I hope they didn't bleed too much into this chapter. That said, I never intended to have this Mara and Zed thing happen. In fact, I never really planned to have the two become official in this story. Then I watched the last episode of Young Justice and felt they (Zed and Mara) need to say their feelings, life's too short. And really it is. But I'm still to stubborn to make right my own mistakes in love so what can you do?

Next, if you saw the movie and I described him well enough, you'd figure out that Ralph is Wreck It Ralph. I don't know why, he just popped in my head and I rolled with it. Gavistan is one of my first characters I made when I played World of Warcraft, I think I'll be having him be reoccuring.

Back to the couple. Zed I feel was far from his usual character in this chapter. So this is the time I break my rule: "The characters define the story, the story doesn't define the characters" So I added backstory to support my change in character, while changing what was in the show a bit. I don't think he was as dark as I was making him. Another thing, ever notice how Bodhi's circuit lines were red? Just like Paige's. Funny how Beck got along with both of them. I wonder if that means anything?

I don't plan on making any Zed and Mara scenes anymore, well I never did but here it is anyway. They're not my favorite couple, Zed reminds me all my own flaws while Mara is that bright person who I can't help but be slightly jealous of because they don't have fear. Are they a good couple? Yes. Though I prefer a spitfire kind of relationship. You know each other enough to keep each other in line, while also calming to let the love heal any lasting wounds. What can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic.

Now to end my less than professional author's monologue. I have a few sections already typed in the upcoming chapters, but I think I'm going to stick to a 7-10 day time between chapters. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

-Rose's Requiem


	8. Chapter 8

After the sparring Mara and Zed were more than worn out. Having gave it their all and pressing themselves to their limits the two now leaned on each other as they headed back upstairs to the main entrance.

It seemed they weren't the only ones to have pushed themselves. Most of the mechanics in front of them looked exhausted. Slumped over, still breathing harshly, and sweat visible on their exposed skin.

Link especially looked dead on his feet. Mara had noticed his change in character and was worried that he was going to kill himself. Seeing him as tired and drained now only helped solidify her small fear.

Bartik and Hopper had also worked up quite a sweat but looked to still have some energy. They walked close to each other but didn't need to support each other like the new couple.

Their leader stood on a platform that raised him a few feet from the ground. The new Programs Mara wanted to meet were gathered around him. Most of them looked quite calm but they were rigid in posture, no doubt from Tron's more than harsh tone and attitude. Mara counted twelve of the new characters, most of which she thought she'd seen at the club at one point or another. It was always good to see familiar faces.

"Defiance, allow these Programs to introduce themselves to you as new comrades," Tron started evenly. His arms were crossed behind his back, as he stood with his feet apart in his usual stance. Turning his head to indicate to the first Program to start.

"Boxer," the Program shouted. The next one to speak was the one to his left.

"Leam,"

"Nexos,"

"Palk,"

And thus how the introduction went. It was just names, nothing about them, where they were from, why there were here, nothing. Mara figured Tron let those things up to the Defiance to find out. As much as she loved him for saving the Grid all those gigacycles ago he never failed to irritate and frustrated her. Why couldn't he be a little more caring? Had Beck heard her thoughts he would have told her that she hadn't experienced Tron on a bad cycle.

Everyone was mingling and getting to know each other. Pearl, Ralph, and Gav gravitated back to their original group and were on the receiving end of most of the questions. While Mara had regained some of energy to satisfy her own curiosity and friendly introduction, her partner was still reluctant to meet new people he didn't see any immediate connection with, especially when he was low on juice.

"Yeah, hi," he mumbled after Ralph gave him and over excited handshake. The man was apparently over joyed to have new friends.

"Mara," he whispered when he had slide his way to her side. If he didn't know any better he'd think the new guys had taken liking to her.

"What's up Zed?" she asked back, not realizing he wanted to be a little subtler.

"We'll have all cycle tomorrow to get to know these guys, why don't we get some rest?" he tried to not sound like he was begging for her to say yes. Which in fact he was.

"You just don't want to meet new people," she teased back into his ear. Well, something's never change apparently, and he was glad she still knew that.

"Guilty as charged," he returned with a smug grin.

"Fine, we'll go. But you're talking to someone these guys tomorrow," she told him while starting to exit the crowd of guys, waving back to them.

"The things I do for," he murmured jokingly.

"This is for your own good. You'll need to know who you're fighting with,"

"I know, I know. Just want to stop with the training and get to the real deal!" he exclaimed quietly so only she could hear.

"We will. I'm sure Tron will have us do something soon," his blue haired companion reassured, while intertwining their fingers.

The two walked back into the holo room and headed straight for the section that had permanently become an area for the team's beds, washrooms, and other necessities. Neither of the two aware of the Program who had watched them the entire time, and satisfaction he felt when he saw them join hands.

 _Finally. Now I can focus without them bogging me down._

* * *

It was bigger than she thought it'd be. Looking around, Paige found the little hideout to be more than she expected from the two lacking mechanics she had working for her at one point. Was she happy of using Bartik or Hopper to help her try and catch the Renegade? Not in the slightest. When they had called her saying they had a full proof plan to get rid of the Renegade she had expected something from them. But just her luck, when she got to the garage she was presented with a device that blew up on itself, and it wasn't even their work. It was another mechanic's idea. Coincidentally, it was Beck's friend, Zed. Supposedly, the turret would shoot a targeting blast at a Light Ribbon, return to the source and blow it up. If it had worked, Paige would have made it an official attachment to any Occupation bike. The destructive force was almost unaccountable as almost every Program had a Light Bike and everyone who tried to escape an arrest would most likely turn on their Light Ribbon. It was a genius idea.

Shaking her head and turning her thoughts to the present, the cloaked medic made her way to the end of the small warehouse and found a few beds, a connection to the energy source, a few storage units with light bikes in them, and a couple batons. It was a perfect little hideout, and she had to give the morons credit for having it. Though, she couldn't figure out why the two would need it. They'd never have the brains or guts to have a need to hide from someone.

Placing her two belongings in one of the storage areas, she proceeded to make herself comfortable on one of the beds. She had a long day planned for tomorrow, 'planned' being a poor word choice. It was going to be long nevertheless.

* * *

The next cycle had come sooner than Zed hoped, along with his meeting with the new Programs. But as usual, Mara was right, it was for his own good. And when it was said and done, he had to admit they weren't as bad as he thought they'd be, especially since they were from the same gang that gave him and Mara so much trouble.

It wasn't until later in the cycle that Tron had come to them and announced he was going to have them perform their first mission. Zed was relieved to finally have something to do other than training. But what were they going to do? Tron hadn't told them what they were going to do but he said in the morning tomorrow he would and that they should get some rest. Of course, Zed was far too excited to finally get some action and had a hard time sleeping. Luckily, he managed to calm himself down and let his tired body get some rest.

"Programs, it's time to make our first move against Clu. As you should all be aware of by now, Clu's army is flying over Argon looking for us and will stop at nothing to find and derezz and us. He's brought a lot of firepower and resources with him to get this objective done. Our first mission as the Defiance, sabotage these resources and steal them for ourselves," the room was silent as the masked Tron lectured. It was clear that it wasn't only Zed ready to get into the action.

"During your own training I've been going out and doing recon on the army's movements. Soon, you'll be doing this on your own and bringing back information for your fellow Defiers," picking up a small device, Tron pressed a button and in front of the Defiance projected by the holo room was video footage and still images of a large vessel in the middle of other support ships high above Argon.

"This is one of the many carriers Clu has brought to Argon for us. This one is the smallest and has the least amount of security, but as you can tell it is still massive in size. It houses dozens of Light Helicopters, Light Planes, Tri-Jets, bombers, tanks, and other less destructive vehicles," images of each vehicle appeared in front of the crowd as Tron raddled them off.

"We will be going in at the end of the cycle, aboard a hijacked transport ship. This transport ship heads from a side entrance to a touch down near the edge of Purgos,"

"Our mission will be infiltration, demolition, and extraction of valuable resources. There will be three teams. All three teams will enter in the same passage but will split off and do separate objectives," the screen showed a digital version of the carrier, zooming into a side entrance to it where the teams would enter.

"Demolition team, you're job is obvious, plant bombs in structural weak points of the carrier, and retrieve any Light Jets you can find," the carrier had highlighted paths blinking areas were bombs were supposed to be planted.

"Extraction team, you're job is to make way with any valuable information from the command deck as you can. I will be leading this group as it is the most dangerous part of our mission," the three dimensional projection now highlighted the path they would take to the command center in a different color as the demo team's paths.

"Last, Sabotage team. You're job is a mix of two things, sabotage any vehicles you deem fit, while at the same time stealing a certain variety of equipment and vehicles," the projection now showed a route through to the most exposed area of the carrier and showed the team simply staying in one spot.

"Once the Demolition and Extraction team have finished their objective they will rendezvous with the Sabotage team and escape with the stolen vehicles," the three teams were shown flying out the hanger.

"This is the hard part. Instead of returning to this hideout we will have to fly to Bismuth to throw Clu off our trail," this was met with some gasps of surprise.

"Wouldn't it be safer to head over the Sea? We would be covered by the fog if we went in the morning," Hopper suggested.

"There are two reasons we can't do that. One, the transport ship only returns to the carrier at night. Sadly, we have no other way to get onto a floating vessel until we complete this mission. Two, as much as the fog would help us stay hidden from any pursuers none of you are trained well enough to fly in that fog without crashing into each other,"

"Right, sorry," Hopper deflated. His friend clapped a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. Also receiving a few smiles from those around him to show he had a good idea, just not the best.

"We'll be stealing multiple Tri-Jets for the sake of this mission alone. Their forward and backward cannons make for great defense and offense, not to mention they can take quite a beating. Those pilots have the job of protecting the Light Helicopters we'll make it out with. Sadly, we won't be taking any planes. They're too big for us to store and we have no use for them besides taking tanks, which would take us too much time and likely get us derezzed. Most of Demo and Extract team will be in single fighter Light Jets to help with the defense.

"When we're far enough from the city and aren't being followed we will head north for about twenty kilometers before heading back to the outpost. Lastly, and unfortunately the hardest part, landing. While you are all inexperienced, the only place to land is the ridge a ways off. There the Sea is frozen and flat for kilometers, but it's still unformatted and the Tri-Jets will have trouble landing. Once all pilots have landed safely we will store the vehicles in caves and underpasses naturally made.

"Once we make it back to the hideout, we'll completed our first strike against Clu," there was a small pause before cheering erupted from Defiance. Tron let them have their fun for a while before having to let them down once more. Raising his hands to show he needed the attention once more, he waited until everyone had gone silent.

"This operation will take place in five cycles. I know you're all eager to get out and start the fight, but for this specific mission you all need extensive training. It'll be useful down the road as well, so it's best you learn it now," to his surprise Tron wasn't met with sighs of disapproval and it seemed that young Programs understood the gravity of the situation.

"Alright. I'll start by naming off those for the teams. Next you will all do flying training. After that I will sort you into pilot positions,"

It was going to be a hard few cycles but with the promise of action, the freedom fighters were willing to push themselves. This was their first mission, their first true fight against Clu. They were going to show him they were a force to reckon with.

* * *

The past couple of cycles had been hard on everyone, especially Tron. He hadn't been able to get a good night's rest ever since Beck's death and often stayed up replaying training sessions he had with him in his private room on the upper story of the hideout. He'd been careful to not let Mara or Zed see, knowing if they saw him awake in the middle of the night it would only worry them. The last thing the Defiance needed was a sign of weakness from their leader.

But why couldn't he sleep? He'd seen Flynn get thrown into exile, the destruction and genocide of the ISOs, the loss of his teammates, friends, and love. He was the only one left in his own life. Why did he keep going? Because the Grid needed to be saved again. That was easy to see. But why did one Program he had barely come to know stop his sleeping? When Cyrus had turned insane, he was able to manage. When Able had confronted him about pushing and using Beck, he felt troubled but managed. When Yori was reported missing… he managed… Was Beck right about him? That he truly didn't care about anyone beside himself? Was his programming to keep guard and watch of the Grid so great that he couldn't even have true friends? Only Flynn would know.

Tron wondered what Beck thought of him, the opinions he didn't vocalize. If he had his disc still would he have searched through his memories and found out? Invading the thoughts of a dead man. What right did he have? Then he realized something. He never had Beck's disc in the first place. Paige had it! Tron thought about that fact for a while, pondering where she could be and what she could be doing with it? Was she entering his mind? Seeing what he thought? Obviously, she didn't turn it in. Otherwise Clu would have come straight to the hideout and taken Tron to be reprogrammed. Then one last thought occurred to him. Did she have the right to look into his memories? Yes, she did. Even though they were enemies, he trusted her in a way Tron would never have the luxury of receiving. In time, he would have surely revealed himself to her, most likely ending the Uprising but relieving him of the mounting stress of lying to her. At least she had broken his heart before that happened.

What was it about Paige that Beck was so familiar and comfortable with? Tron figured it was something in his coding, something new that even the savior of the Grid didn't have nor could he even comprehend. Putting aside his curiosity, he felt his body relax more and his eyelids closing. He knew he had a new objective, other than saving the Grid. He had to get Beck's disc back and put it to rest along with the others.

 _Users, maybe he'd be able to see Lux and Bodhi once it was done._ With that thought, the greatest Program fell into a peaceful slumber, filled with dreams of a young Program talking and enjoying himself with two others.

* * *

"Sir, it appears to be another attack from the Renegade's rebellion," Pavel stated the obvious, looking at the derezzed bodies of a group of sentries guarding a stationed off energy building, one of the many the Occupation owned and kept to themselves.

"Yes, I can see that Pavel," Dyson said obviously annoyed. He motioned his hand to signal the Black Guards to check out the storage units. The lead guard entered his code, causing the doors to open. Containers and canisters filled the room in a mass of destroyed heaps of metal and spoiled energy spilling out all over the floors.

"What is this?" Dyson walked by the Black Guards went to the center of the room.

"Who could have done this?" Pavel inquired with his usual ear bleeding voice.

Dyson ignored the underling as he picked up one of the Sentry's disc and proceeded to run through the last stored memories.

-disc memory-

"Hey, do you know when we get to hang out with some of Clu's guards?" the guard who's memory was being accessed said to another program.

"Users if I know, I heard that 31 was stationed with a few of them by Argon Square,"

"Yeah?"

"Apparently, they're really tough at first,"

"Tough?"

"You know follow orders to the pixel, but 31 got through to them apparently. Guess they're just like us,"

"Hmm, so why are they-" Footsteps could be heard around the corner of the barrier that was only a few feet in front of them.

"Halt! Who's there?"

Both guards entered their stances with their staffs at the ready. A Program with a long drape covering most of their body came around the corner. Their footsteps were that of hardened boots.

"Halt Program! This is a restricted area!"

The Program proceeded to walk towards the Sentries.

"This is your last-" The other Sentry never finished his sentence as a disc exploded his chest. His body collapsed into a pile of voxels and spilled around the area where he used to stand.

The rest of the guards covering the other entrances came to assist the remaining guard. The assaulting Program snatched the disc from the air as it returned to them. Still ignited, the Program threw the disc towards the sentries and charged forward. The sound of the Program's boots clashing with the Grid was the only sound as the sentries dodged the flying blade and readied themselves for the new threat.

"75, get around the Renegade and close off the gates," one of the sentries commanded to another.

While the one named 75 ran around to the gate, the six remaining guards surrounded the masked Program as they once again caught their disc.

"Prepare to be derezzed, Renegade," one guard growled out. The rebelling Program didn't respond verbally just simply looked over to the guard and stared him down. The guard gripped his staff tighter causing his gloves to make a noise as they tighten around the pole. He became nervous, as the Program didn't seem to be nervous but simple calm, calm and powerful. Their stance was firm and undeniably trained, evidence of a well-seasoned fighter.

The cloaked body made the first move, throwing their disc at the sentry they were starring down. He easily moved out of the way but lost sight of his opponent as he did. When he turned back to his enemy, he had no time to escape a melee attack with a second disc. As the second disc went through his helmet and before any guard to register what was happening, the taunting sentry's head was split vertically in half. His body fell back and exploded into a pile of voxels.

The other sentries stood shocked as they took in the scene that took only a second. The other Program returned their second disc to their dock under their cloak as they caught their first disc on its path back to them.

-disc memory-

Dyson stopped the memory. Understanding the necessary information of what happened, he handed the disc to Pavel.

"Bring this with you, extract any information from the memory and then destroy the disc," Dyson ordered. Pavel bowed instantly.

"Of course, sir!"

Dyson continued walking back to the idle Recognizer they had arrived in earlier. His thoughts were racing over the Program he saw. While on the outside he held his cool exterior on the inside he felt three simultaneous ideas double checking themselves.

1\. The Program he just witnessed was a massive threat to the Grid. How would he go about stopping her from attacking other facilities and warehouses?

2\. How much of the Occupation's secrets and information have been linked to the Defiance? Surely, she had joined forces with them and was now aiding in their fight against perfection, as Clu said she had.

3\. What would he tell Clu? He specifically handed off the job to handle her and now she was going around killing guards. Instead of listening to Clu and leaving her be, he put her on the wanted list, sent patrols looking for her, and wasted valuable time when he could have been rebuilding the Super Recognizer.

None of his thoughts helped the phantom pain that had started to grow where his eye used to be. It had come on when he first came to Argon and faced Tron. Now, it was a blaring throb as it pulsed with every beat of his circulator.

 _Damn Program… I'll find her and derezz her myself._

* * *

Deep in the shadows of the alleys a Program watched the event of the sentries who guarded the energy storage facility. His malice and discontent not evident in his posture but in his wicked grin as he studied the Program take down her opponents without remorse. Her skill with a disc that is not her own and the obvious restraint she puts on herself so she doesn't win the fight too fast.

 _Interesting…_

The Program stays until the very end the assault and notes all the technics, strengths, and abilities that the feral Program has. Her incredible speed and nimbleness make her deadly with precision and stealth, while still having strength in her swings and kicks to cause considerable damage without a disc. She was a force to reckon with, A new player and piece on the battlefield and in the chess game that was the Grid.

He let out a small chuckle before slipping back into the void of darkness, no one ever aware of the oddly circuited Program.

 _Grid… Soon you'll be free to have control once more…_

* * *

AN (Big again): Just a little chapter to hold you guys over. A little early, but I fear I may take a little while to finish the next one as I can't really get it to go.

I just wanted to say thank you, for those who are reviewing, it means a lot and honestly makes me write a little faster. The feed back on Mara and Zed really got to my heart, I seem to write deep emotional romance scenes so I'm glad it went over well. Because this story is at a point where that romance is kinda not possible to talk about I've been writing other things to keep my sanity, sadly I write 3k at least on those stories a day just because it comes so naturally to me. War, strategy, and keeping tabs are my weak point. And I put myself in this situation so might as well practice and make myself better at it.

One small note I keep forgetting to mention. My time usage of cycles is technically wrong via canon. In the movie, Flynn relates the time convergence of the Grid and real world. It was too much math for me to really care (not that I'm bad at math). So I used time like this, go to Wikipedia and go to the prefixes, I just search micro. There's a table that shows what all the prefixes are. So giga is a year, mega is a month, kilo is a week, cycle is a day, deci is an hour, etc. I saw that in another fan fic (which I can't find again, sorry whoever you are! I love your idea!).

I don't know if this is even read, so I'll just say whatever I want. So Star Wars is right around the corner and I keep hearing talk about Luke and what's the story behind him. Lot of people are talking about if he's dark or light sided. My theory is, he went through the hardest of tests and temptations in the original trilogy, what in the world could make him turn dark? Mara Jade dying and his offspring turning dark? Not even. I think he's still light, primarily because of one little thing. R2-D2. He's never hung out with the dark side before. He left when Anakin when there and stuck with the Rebels through the war. I bet Luke is just going to take up Yoda's place. A master, but hidden away on a planet.

So, once again, I'd like to thank those for reading and putting your thoughts in the reviews! I hope you enjoy!

-Rose's Requiem


	9. Chapter 9

_This system... How corrupt it's become... Why didn't Tron save it? Why didn't you save it? Because you've become corrupt as well! Why couldn't you have seen what happened? Why couldn't you have just joined me?! Because you're weak. Foolishly holding out hope that the Grid can be saved of the corruption. Only a new clean slate can save it, nothing else._

The seething Program had seated himself on one of Clu's flagships and was staring at the location of Tron's hideout, the mountain just barely visible to the eyes. He hoped Tron was watching, but in the back of his mind he knew he wasn't. He never was. The great savior of the Grid was never going to be smart enough to beat him. Stop his refreshing of the Grid and its occupants. Sadly, his protégé was able to. Though, it was only a small set back. He just needed to find another Program with the willpower and strength to power the EMP that would break the Grid, and cause the reset.

As luck would have it, he had found it. What better replacement to the Renegade than his arch nemesis, the Commander. Though, he didn't know what had caused her rampant change, or why she was destroying everything in her path, as long as she felt that everything needed to be killed, he would have no problems using her to help him. All he needed was a little more time to fix his device. His first encounter with Beck had left it inoperable to put it nicely.

As much as he tried, the ex-commander had evaded his follow. It was yet another set back, but one he could rectify before it would hold him back. The anger that came with the fact was another thing. How had she become so proficient at losing him? It was as if she knew he was there, and planned for it every time. Could she just be paranoid of Clu? Another thing he'd have to figure out once he had finally caught onto her.

Deciding he had enough of his ritual seething, he started walking along the sides of the ship. Defying gravity, he found himself on the side looking in one of the few windows the ship had. A lone figure sat on his chair clearly in thought, his helmet masking his face but his yellow circuit lines indicating who he was.

 _And you… What does the real world have to offer? You can't even fix this one, let alone one you've never even seen. To think, you're a copy of a User. What a pathetic joke._ Cyrus thought hopelessly. Another reason he knew he had to take it upon himself to fix the Grid. A copy of a User had lost its mind and betrayed its User, its creator. What sense did it make? Now, that User was off hiding in some dark corner of the Grid. Most likely crying to itself as how it got into this situation. That was one luxury Cyrus was going to miss out on. Not being able to derezz the User himself. At least he knew he would be killed in the reset.

 _Alone… he's all alone._ He thought for a moment, unable to stop the feeling of connection he felt for the User, and the fear that followed.

 _Isolated_ … He continued. The fear was starting to control his mind and body as he felt his circulator run wild. He was panicking. Over what? Being alone? He cursed at himself for having the _weakness_ but the terror defeated his mental fight and consumed his thoughts.

Fear. Solitude. Pain. That's all he felt ever since he was banished to that world. But he persevered. Making promises with himself and keeping true to himself he found a way to turn nothing into everything, or so he thought. While he could physically turn the empty space around him into matter, his negative thoughts, his weakness was still the motivation he needed to push forward. He held onto the fear. It was his greatest asset to use for fuel, but like so many other things it was bittersweet.

Doing his best to block out his crippling emotions, he focused on his location and the reason he was there. Looking back to the Program inside his flagship, he saw the door open and another well known Program enter.

* * *

"Sir," Dyson greeted when he had entered Clu's room. One of many Clu liked to use to overlook his army and think about his plans. Most have a similar design; two large pillars that supported the roof, his area that Clu liked to seat himself in that was a few steps higher than the entranceway, and a single sofa with two small tables on each side of it.

"Dyson," came a droll response. It was clear he wasn't really paying attention.

"The repairs on the Super Recognizer are going as planned. We're slightly ahead of schedule," Dyson noted, coming to stand a few feet behind Clu's low couch.

"I see," his voice was still distant.

"No one suspects anything. We still have the area quarantined," his close ally continued his voice not betraying his worry over his next topic.

"Good," Clu's voice had picked up some attention but still held a tone of looseness.

"Another subject I feel you should know about is the Commander," Dyson started cautiously.

"Pavel is irrelevant, he's-"

"Sorry, I meant Paige," Dyson interrupted, causing Clu to turn his head slightly, showing he had Dyson's full attention.

"She has started to terrorize our supply depots and patrol groups. Attacking ones with a substantial amount of troops posted," he continued his voice remaining his usual casual when speaking with Clu.

"I see. Maybe I was too… soft in my preliminary judgment," Clu noted, turning his head back to the windows of the room.

"From the memories I've looked at, she appears to be using two discs. I believe she has the disc of whoever we found by the docks the night she escaped," Dyson informed.

"I'm curious who that Program used to be. Not many people pick up a second disc at random," the yellow-circuited Program divulged.

"So am I, sir," the other Program agreed.

"What would you like me to do about her?" Dyson asked when Clu made no attempt to continue the conversation.

"Do what you need to. Stop her before she becomes a problem," Clu ordered.

"Of course," he responded.

When the conversation died this time, Dyson figured Clu was deep in thought of whatever was preoccupying him earlier and surmised that he should leave him alone.

"Dyson," the Program called out to him, stopping his silent retreat.

"Yes, sir?"

"I feel… Like I'm being watched," he announced turning his head to a window on his right side. Dyson followed his sight line and watched the window.

"I'll take a few guards with me and take a look," Dyson informed before stalking off.

"Thanks," Clu murmured to himself, more than talking to his personal guard. It first started a cycle after he entered Argon. Every so often, he would feel a tingling at the back of his neck and feel that someone was watching, spying, and observing him. He knew it wasn't Tron, even Clu couldn't tell when he was spying on him. Who was it? Who ever it was, they were not someone to take lightly. They were never caught, reported, or sighted in any of the times he had felt them. One more thing he'd have to keep tabs on.

* * *

"Are we ready?" the white colored Program checked his team once more. Multiple heads nodded in response. Turning back to the transport that stood stationed a few hundred meters away as it was loaded and unloaded with supplies. Giving the hand signal for the other Defiance members hidden in their corners of the large hanger, the large group descended from the shadows and launched their assault on the posted guards. Most not having enough time to defend themselves, it only took a few seconds to bring down the twenty plus guards that stationed the area around the transport. The Defiance regrouped at the ramp leading to the transport.

Though hidden by the masks and helmets they wore, the young Programs were visibly nervous and anxious to actually be starting their first mission. Any amount of things could go wrong: a soldier could be fast than one of them and sound an alarm, the ship might not be able to be piloted, their ruse could fail, a bomb could accidentally go off, etc. For most, it was their first time doing something so blatantly risky. Yes, most of them had raced, challenged each other in disc battles, and fought on the streets, but most of them had stayed far away from going directly against the Occupation. Mara and Tron were probably the only two to have actually done it.

"The guards in the ship haven't noticed us, plan's still in action," Tron murmured to the others around him.

Mara looked up to the hanger's control deck and saw two familiar faces looking back at her. Giving the thumbs up, Bartik and Hopper made their way through the room and picked up the unconscious guard's helmets and put them on. Turning to the control panels, they tried to look as relaxed and uncaring as the guards seemed when they first walked in.

The rest of the group set off down the long bridge that connected the landing area to the ship. Making their way inside, they took up corners in the large storage area and started to close the main docking door. Tron, Mara, Zed, and Gav made their way to the front of the ship to find the pilots and take charge of the ship. Upon reaching the cockpit, the two found the doors locked from the inside. Tron motioned for the others to keep point while he walked up and knocked on the door.

"We're all set down here," he shouted into the door, his voice modified to resemble the same distortion of the Black Guards.

"Already? We landed only a milli ago," the pilot answered through the door.

"Apparently, two sets of shifts are overlapping right now, extra security," Tron explained. He body and mind cool under the pressure he was used to.

"Works for me. Lifting off," came the reply. Through the door, he could hear the pilots conversing with the Programs at the control center. For a moment, the old Program was worried they were blown when one of the pilots was clearly becoming frustrated at whoever he was talking to but was happy when the sound of a clamp releasing its hold on the ship was heard through the walls. After that, the ship could be felt setting off toward the carrier. Walking back to his squad he found them positioned in the blind spots of all the doors, training was definitely working.

"We're on our way. Gav, stay here and make sure the pilots don't leave their post. If they find us, it'll make for a much louder infiltration," the experienced looking Program nodded in understanding. Other him and Tron, the rest were visibly on edge. It didn't surprise Mara seeing Gavistan as cool as he was, it only confirmed her theory he was a soldier at one point. The rest of the squad returned back to their teammates in the main corridor, a few downed sentries and Black Guards were now stacked in the corner.

"Good work," Tron noted quietly.

It wasn't long before the transport started to slow. Everyone had become anxious and were visibly shaking or doing other acts of subconscious thinking: foot tapping, hand flexing, knuckle cracking, head bobbing, etc. They hadn't even entered the carrier yet and were clearly having a hard time comprehending the situation. Tron only hoped they would be able to perform their tasks and not fall under the pressure. Making their way back to the room outside of the cockpit, he took place outside the door to listen in on the conversation of the pilots.

"Carrier Right Shard, this is transport HTU 3620, requesting to land," one of the pilots voiced.

"3620, this is Right Shard, you guys are little early aren't you?"

"Ahead of schedule, little help on the ground," the pilot answered.

"Little help?" voiced a static response.

"Apparently, two shifts are overlapping. Security buff,"

"No one told me of this change,"

"Neither were we," there was a small pause and Tron's veins ran cold as he anticipated everything to fail on a technicality in his lie.

"I'll check up on it later, please send authorization code," the hero visibly relaxed his shoulders at this.

"Sending,"

"Confirmed, welcome back 3620," the call ended. Tron quietly stepped back into the other room and waited on the other side of the doorway for the pilots to exit. It wasn't long before the pilots walked past him and Gav, only to be knocked unconscious by the two. Mara and Zed reappeared from their hiding spots, ready for their next move, clearly less shaken than the others. The four headed back to the storage area and found the mechanics dragging a dozen bodies into the ship. Their plan of surprising the guards had gone accordingly. It was good to see them working through the pressure.

Regrouping into their designated teams the three groups set off through the docking area into the side port and paused around Tron.

"You all know the plan. If anything goes wrong I want you to get out as fast as you can. The information and the ships are not nearly as important as you are. Don't let the pressure get to you, as long as we stick to the plan nothing will go wrong," Tron warned and reassured them one last time. A few shaky nods were given before they broke off and headed in separate directions.

The Demolition team was lead by Gavistan and Pearl. Consisting mostly of their old gang the group headed down a series of halls before entering a large room that held storage units filled with unknown supplies. The room was made of a large row of columns and a few floors of platforms that led to other rooms and were part of the support columns. Making their way in the shadows, the group started unloading their heavy payload in the center of the columns, setting their timers and heading off to the next location.

The group worked efficiently together. Knowing each other and having a general understanding of who was standing next to them, the bombs were set with out a hitch. Gavistan having set up the last one and found the rest of the gang taking a breather. They looked worn out, only Gavistan knew the signs and looks. He had experienced them himself on his first deployment. The exhaustion of the body shaking with fear and anxiety as the brain runs a million times faster than it should and thinks of all the ways the plans backfires or it messes up with what it's trying to do. That after effect of using the body so excitedly and the calm that comes knowing one part was finished.

The Sabotage team was lead by Mara and Zed, an obvious choice. Again, their group was made almost entirely of the mechanics they were familiar with and who knew how to mess with vehicles. Making their way to the main hanger, they were greeted with an enormous field of ships and tanks. Some ships hung from the ceiling while the rest were in a line parallel to the inside walls. Tanks were lined up flush against these walls and were positioned facing the inside of the hanger. The Light Helicopters were stationed on their pads on the three stories that were between the bottom floor that the mechanics were currently on and the top floor that looked to have the main control center. While rows and rows of Recognizers filled the spaces on the second, and third floor, leaving the fourth floor for extra jets and planes.

Spreading out into three smaller groups, the defiers made work of sabotaging the tanks, some using the virus Tron had originally given Beck to disrupt their turrets while others used their knowledge of vehicles to disable parts and gears. Another group made their way to the second floor and started tampering with the Light Choppers and making note of which ones they were going to take with them. The last group made their way to the top and set small bombs along the pads that strutted out from the floor along with a few to the hanging ships. All groups managing to pick up a few baton jets on their ways.

Their group faired better mentally than the rest, falling back on their days at the shop where most of their actions were automatic and repetitive, just adding a game of hide and seek from the soldiers to make it a bit more interesting. Zed was constantly having bouts of mind overload where he started to triple and quadruple check what he was doing to make sure he was right. Sometimes, completely forgetting where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. Only when he thought of Mara did he bring his focus back. She had stopped his hands shaking, his breaths from sounding so harsh, and his legs from freezing up when he saw a guard somewhere. He was glad to have finally confessed his feelings the kilo before, but he was damned if he was going to lock up when they needed him most.

The Extraction group, lead by Tron, had made their way to the elevator that lead to the bridge of the ship. Their group having met the most amount of guards, it took them the longest to get to their objective. Taking out the four guards stationed at the elevator lift, the smallest group piled onto the elevator and road to the top, removing the threat once more. Entering the bridge, Tron took out the two guards stationed at their monitoring stations before they had a chance to place a protective blast shield over themselves. Not wasting anytime, the other took their positions and began extracting any files they thought would be relevant. Tron alone walked into the other room and was greeted with four more guards he easily took care of. The commanding officer had made his way for the alert system but was launched against the deck with one massive kick from Tron. It wasn't long before he was rummaging through the files and grabbing anything he could onto his index cube.

As much as he wanted to, he wasn't able to bring Gavistan with him as a co-leader. If any Program was ready for this, it was him, Mara following close behind. Instead, he had to figure which of the members were going to be able to handle the most pressure in their training, a bad place to find emotional strength. Only when the battle was, when the strength was needed did true willpower, determination, and devotion show itself. Luckily, he had learned to read Programs better after Cyrus and picked the right team members to lead.

When the alarms started blaring through out the carrier, the three groups immediately went into position to meet at the rendezvous. Once again, Tron's group was met with the most resistance but made it past without much trouble. Mara and Zed's group was split in half, Mara's half waiting in the assigned vehicles ready to take off while Zed's half was at the meeting point waiting to show the others where they were going. Pearl's group was already at the point when Zed arrived, Tron's finding its way not too long after. By the time they had set off, the carrier was starting to go on full lockdown, or tried to. The hanger door controls had been booby trapped by Zed himself so no one could close it on them too early along with Tron making sure the override command in the bridge kept it open during the alarm.

Adrenaline was pumping through everyone's body as they made their ways to the ships, the excitement of having almost successfully completed their mission giving their minds and body a wonderful buzz. Most of the sabotaging team had become pilots while the other two teams manned the guns of their crafts. With the signaling bomb going off, all the ships started their launch out of the hanger. The giddiness of escape causing everyone to vibrate with energy. One by one in close formation, the ships entered the air over Argon, Tron being the last to leave in his own jet.

As the Defiance escaped the Right Shard, the bombs and sabotaged vehicles played their part. Explosions racked the carrier and shook it violently, the rigged jets started to burst open in a flash of parts and fire. The platforms extending from the levels of the hanger began to plummet onto the lower level ships as the primed bombs and grenades went off. Fire, debris, and shouts filled the hanger, as all hell broke loose.

It was odd. At first there was nothing shooting at them. No one trying to derezz them. Only the hum of the engines and whooping of the helicopter's blades to occupy their ears. Their nerves still on hypersensitive levels, their bodies had started to twitch and their eyes darted in every visible direction, looking for their enemies. Thoughts and fears started to rack the minds as the silence started to prolong its stay, it didn't hang around much after. Flying high above the mass ships floating over Argon, it was the sound of a baton jet's repeaters going off that alerted the Defiance to anyone following them.

Making a dive for the first responders, Tron was calculating for the time his shots would have to travel, the distance the enemy ships would have to fly, and the angle in which he needed to be in microseconds. Pressing the trigger and unleashing a barrage of energy blasts, the Child Basic used his jet as if it was part of the old system he had grown up with. His circulator alive with energy helping him focus and spread the adrenaline kick.

The Occupation ships consisted mainly of single seated jets were easily taken down, while a few Light Jets had managed to find their way over and started to return fire. Rolling and turning on his Light Ribbon, he threaded the needle of two orange blurs taking the opportunity of their ribbons not being activated. Pulling up and turning to face the fighters, he was soon under fire in another direction. Coming for a squadron of Light Helicopters, their more controllable repeaters had locked on and started their barrage.

Finding himself outmatched, the white-circuited Program made his retreat to his group, which had made a sizable distance. The group tried to stay inconspicuous and reframed from turning on any Light Ribbons until absolutely necessary, though their white circuits against their orange counter part made it an almost pointless notion.

"Single jets, break off, we need to keep the rest of the convoy safe," Tron shouted into the radio when he had neared his group. The six other single jet fighters parted from the small mass of bright white ships and flew in the opposite direction toward the pursuers. Deciding to make for a flank, he flew higher in the sky until clouds covered him. He fought his body against freezing in the cold air and flew back down in the action, ignoring the stiffness of his frozen fingers.

Beams of white and orange lights shot through the air, missing and hitting their targets. Using his angle, he blasted one of the jets that was riding on one of the Defiance member's. The helicopters were easy targets. As long as anyone decided to attack from the side, they didn't have enough time to react and were gunned down easily.

"Retreat! We can't get too far from the others!" Tron commanded, flying back towards the directions of the others. The rest had put on their ribbons and were flying across the sky in random paths, making sure not to cross or hit into each other. After one helicopter became pinned in the jungle of bright luminating ribbons, the rest flew upward out of the path of the crazy lines, only to be blinded by the clouds. Tron patted himself on the back for keeping their altitude at just the right level so the army would have to fly into them.

Easily shrinking the space between him and the rest of his allies, he slowed to bring up the rear. They were well away from the city, but could easily be seen still. All was going well, until he noticed that two of the other single jets were missing. It was bound to happen but there was nothing that could prepare anyone for the loss of close ally or friend. The pain that he had lost two lives flooded him instantly. He looked down to his controls, as if the weight of their dead bodies were on his shoulders that very moment. The lines of energy passing by brought him from his acute depression. Turning to see a couple of Tri-Jets making their way to them, their cannons were launching larger and deadlier bolts of energy.

Pulling up and entering the clouds once more, Tron made a dive at the bigger Jets, attacking once more from above. Being rewarded for flanking, he had taken out the two Jets before the others were even fully turned around. He'd be damned if he lost anyone else to the Occupation on this mission. Looking back to see Argon nothing but a fuzzy hue of lights and colors, the leader of the Defiance made his way to the front of the convoy.

"Start heading north!" He shouted while pointing to his right. Slowly, arcing in a group, the mix of Jets, Baton Jets, Tri-Jets, and Helicopters made their way north to the expansive ravine he had trained Beck on.

Cheers started to rumble from the flying machines, before growing into a roaring thunder of yells and shouts of joy. They had done it. Their first mission had gone just as planned. Ransacking Clu of valuable ships while in essence destroying a whole carrier. The first battle of the war, signaling its official start.

A mix of relief and guilt swept through Tron. This war could have been prevented if only he had done his job and watched _all_ the Programs of the Grid. His trust in Clu was the single exploit he needed to turn the Grid into his conquering sandbox. Mara and Zed were gleefully yelling with their friends in the Tri-Jets they were in. The rush of a won battle flowing all of Defiance. Pearl had been caught up in Ralph's over expressive elation and started to join the mix of mechanics and gang members in their celebration. Gavistan was the only one who seemed to be less than mind blown at the success of their operation. While smiling and patting others on the back, he noticed the missing two ships, and was feeling the old scars of loss flare up.

Not in the mood to guilt trip himself again, Tron headed forward and began to descend towards the mass of snow-blanketed mountains that ran endlessly in all directions of sight. His Defiance following him with cautious movements, but having spread out more, they were essentially free to move as they pleased.

It hadn't taken them as long to arrive at their destination. Slowing and nearing to the ground where individual boulders and rocks that weren't covered in snow could be seen zooming past at a frightening speed. Leading the group of jets into a landing path, the hero of the Grid slowly descended his Baton Jet and mimicked the pattern the others who weren't flying a Baton Jet as if he was landing. To his relief no one had crashed on their landing and were rolling their ships to the caves and uplifted glaciers of ice a few kilometers in the distance. The other single jet fighters didn't need a helping hand to land, as all they had to do was slow enough before pitching up at the right time and returned the jet into its baton form. Lastly, was the Light Copters. Having a handful of them, they were easier to land especially with the amount of space provided for them. Watching from the ground, Tron guided them to give them plenty of space and soon they too had landed. Sadly, instead of rolling to their hiding spot the helicopters would have to be flown by Tron himself as the caves were far too narrow for the inexperienced pilots to fly them in.

After he had painstakingly flown all the Copters in, he was greeted with a crowd of excited Programs, cheering and congratulating each other on a job well done. Raising his hand to silence them and gain their attention the leader of the Defiance decided it would be best to explain what they had truly gained... And lost.

"Defiance! Today is the beginning of a revolution! We have caused a major blow to Clu's army while gathering supplies necessary to fight this war! We've sent our first message and it won't be our last! Tonight we celebrate this moment! While we also mourn our losses!" The crowded hushed at his last sentence.

"While we all stand here, there are two who did not have the luxury to see this moment, fighting to keep the rest of us safe and for what they believed in. I believe their names were Kat and Torch. A member of Pearl's gang and a mechanic from the garage. We are not divided from where we came from as we fight for the same goal. We fight for freedom! Never forget what those two have sacrificed for their freedom! Honor them by standing tall and continuing believing in what they did! Because we are the Defiance!" The former Uprising bellowed in cheers and shouts of approval once more before silencing themselves and letting the fact that two of their own, close friends and teammates, had died in the assault.

One by one the group started headed back to the hideout, breaking their light bikes and racing down the canyon of frozen ice, a mix of emotions haunting the Defiance.

* * *

"Clu," Dyson nearly shouted as he ran into his commander's room.

"I saw Dyson. Appears Tron has made his first move," Clu cut his second in command off, the smirk evident in his voice.

"Surely, you think he's a threat?" the other Program asked in disbelief.

"Of course I do. It just shows that Tron is still a worthy asset," the yellow Program reassured. This didn't calm Dyson. Was Clu really so infatuated with Tron that he was willing to lose hundreds of valuable ships and men for his allegiance? He was too costly to try to get on their side, let alone the risk he proposed if he were to betray them as he had before.

"Well, initial damage reports from the Right Shard state we lost over eighty percent of our soldiers and vehicles. The carrier itself is heavily damaged and will take megas to restore back to working status," Dyson debriefed. As much as he hated it, he couldn't help his dejected tone.

"I'll have Pavel take care of it. Keep him working. Think he's doing a good job," Clu's grin could be heard in his voice. He already have of the two commanders causing havoc on the city, the last thing he needed was his own to do the same. If he was kept busy and praised enough, he would be content with his position.

"Of course. Now, what is our next move?" Dyson asked darkly.

"Simple. We stop the Games,"

* * *

During the Defiance's heist, the ex-commander was making her way through a platoon of Black Guards stationed near Tesler's personal fleet ship. The massive three-winged hovering monstrosity sat on its usual perch overlooking Argon. The cliff high above any buildings in the city below but still overlooked by the skyscrapers in the middle of the city. A mass of 30 or more troops patrolled the constructed elevator on the side of the protruding land plate while two of heavily fortified bunkers stood at both sides of a gate that further protected the elevator from unwarranted Programs.

Paige had a strong desire to break through the forces and wreak destruction on her path to Tesler. Allowing her to show him personally how much she felt betrayed by the general. She could easily subdue him; he had seen him fight enough times to know his weaknesses. Sure, he probably knew hers as well, but that wouldn't stop her from recklessly abandoning all her training to use her advantages, all she had to do was get close enough and cut his arms off. Simple, easy, and satisfying. Oh so satisfying. To see that man in pain would bring her a small sense of completion. What they say about revenge was wrong; it didn't leave you hollow afterwards. How could it when she already had nothing left? Next, she would break his legs, there would be no way to stop her when all he had were stubs left as arms. Nothing more devastating than taking away the use of one's disc. While he was crawling away, probably asking for guards that were already dead, she would make him bleed, feel the pain she felt, make him as hollow and as empty as she was. And when he understood it was his own doing that caused his fate, she would make him feel the worst pain on the Grid. Not for herself, but for the Programs he killed. For Beck.

But she held herself back. Against all her anger, her consuming rage and pain, her fury, seemingly blinding fury, she kept herself from rampaging toward the ship. Somewhere inside of her, hidden behind the molten lava of madness and the cold vacuum of nothingness stood a beacon of light. The smallest particle of hope and serenity. It was like a voice calling out to her when she thought of acting on her righteousness. It was too clouded by her other emotions to be seen, but when those said emotions were at their worst, the voice came. Bringing with it it's tranquility and gentle understanding. Though, the amount was a small glass of water against her roaring inferno, it was enough.

Though, that glass was not enough to save the lives of the Black Guards and other soldiers she mercilessly slaughtered now. Ripping through them with effortless blurs of her discs, her cloak keeping her body hidden from her enemies as they watched in horror. The green gliding through one target while the white was flying back to her offhand after its deadly journey through three guards.

It was then, and the one time only, that she had to block an attack. One Black Guard had maneuvered himself to predict her placement and was midair when she had caught her disc. Using her battle awareness, she had her discs up immediately and parried the attack, her body not moving an inch as the kinetic energy passed through her and into the Grid when it had once come from. When the pressure had passed, the doctor had quickly pivoted her own disc to slash at her enemy's wrist, inevitably cutting off his hand. The burning code of his insides clear only for a flash as he shot back and reached for his damaged arm, only to be rammed through with a white disc. His dark blue voxels fell around the disc and its wielder before she was hacking and slashing her way fluidly through the orange brutes.

Most of the rest were lucky to have been derezzed instantly, while a few were still alive as they fell. The large gash running across their shoulders, chest, or waistline glowed an uneven red on their insides while the skin and armor were glaring blue. The pain was sharp, deep, but luckily short as when they fell is when their code broke apart and they were derezzed into oblivion.

Looking back on her work, Paige had worried she wouldn't be able to take out what was stationed around the entry way to the general's command ship. With all of Clu's soldier's in town, she figured they would have had more infantry available to help guard Argon from attacks, but the number posted was only a few higher than when she had to decide shifts for the worthless soldiers.

Craning her neck until it popped, she saw a couple of tanks along with a company of soldiers making their way down to her from the opened gates across from her. She had time to run, the tanks were far enough where their shots were likely to miss, and the guards weren't in disc range but could easily change that. Taking a quick breath, she figured she could manage the fight. It was all to train with the second disc and let out some steam. Well, it wasn't steam, but it did help cool it off.

She scanned the high points for Pavel, knowing he was commanding the company.

It wasn't like traditional military ranking where a position between commander and sergeant was found often. Lieutenants, Officers, Captains, Majors were a rarity, often their responsibility falling all on the Commanders. Leaders of squads, or sergeants more often than not, would lead platoons, platoons could form into a company but never occurred after the ISO's were killed.

At least they could make her smile, she was worthy of making a company out of, and don't forget the two tanks. But they were going to have to do better next time. Putting aside Pavel, she dove right into the fray when a few discs forced her to dodge.

When she dealt with Tesler, Pavel would be next on her list.

* * *

"Stop the games?" Dyson asked in bewilderment.

"Yes,"

"But we should be punishing them! This would show as the opposite!" the trained Program failed at keeping his disagreeing tone out of his voice.

"You and Pavel will start rounding up the rule breakers and prepare them for Tron City," Clu was unfazed by his ally's tone.

"But this makes no sense! We have to show-" Dyson quit his questioning when Clu had turned his head, his body language still relaxed but managing to retain all it's authority and power.

"I'll get right to it, your Magnificence," he said in an obedient tone. It was rare to call Clu, Magnificence, but when the few times Dyson had screwed up beyond Clu's restraint, he had felt his wrath in many ways. This wouldn't be one of those times, but he wanted to insure Clu he didn't want to disrespect him. When the door had been knocked on, it had brought Dyson out of thoughts and the long silence that had followed his acceptance. He was at the door in a blink and ready to rip however had interrupted their meeting a new one.

"What is it Program?" He growled when the door was only just open.

"Report, General," the sentry informed while pulling out a small device that projected a small video. A view from a camera watching over the front gates of Argon's general.

"A sighting of the doctor has come in. They've killed the guards at the elevator to the general's command ship. The General himself brought a company of his soldiers to fight her along with two Light Tanks. The Program was able to weave through the soldiers, destroy the tanks, and then kill the company," Dyson's eyes were wide with disbelief as he watched the footage of Paige slipping past the soldiers, her movements amazingly fluid as her discs were nothing but flashes on the screen as she killed the orange circuited men.

"The General managed to evacuate the area before he too was killed. After the doctor had kill the company they left the area on a Light Bike," the sentry concluded as he basically voiced the actions of the video he presented.

"Were there any survivors?" Dyson asked the soldier, his voice light with shock.

"No. All soldiers were killed," This fact only furthered Dyson's disbelief.

"I will inform Clu, return to your post," he ordered regaining his composure and closing the door. He returned to Clu and wasn't surprised to see him in the same position.

"Well? Must be important," Clu wondered casually.

"It appears our doctor is more of a threat than we could have imagined," Dyson said in his usual even tone, once again letting his calm demeanor take over.

"The commander? I see. She will have to be dealt with sooner then," he was not pleased.

"I'll start patrols searching for her, gather a squad to hunt her down personally,"

"Good. Make sure they know what they're up against," Clu agreed.

"Of course,"

"I'm curious Dyson, does she have a nickname yet?" Clu pondered to his underling.

"Yes, apparently the sentries are calling her Doctor of Death," his mentor laughed at this.

"Interesting. Make it official," Clu ordered the laugh still in his words.

"Right away," Dyson ducked away silently. His first priority was this newly named "Doctor of Death".

* * *

When Mara, Zed, and the rest of the Defiance had returned to the hideout, they were greeted with two partying idiots as they danced in the club like replica the holo room had provided them. Thought, they were still a litter bitter about losing two of their own, the rush of victory soon came back and they had told Bartik and Hopper they were back. The Defiance had followed in Mara and Zed's example and proceeded to join the slowly growing party. The music was turned up as the shouting fought to overtake it. Drinks were circulating around as they were prepared by the pair waiting for their team to come back.

A few had opted out of the party namely: Tron, Gavistan, Pearl, and Link. Link had immediately went to the rooms and appeared very down cast, the loss of his two teammates taking its toll on the mechanic more than the rest. Pearl was in a similar mood; only she seemed less troubled and decided to stay by the drinks. Gavistan and Tron found themselves in the observation deck as they watched the party continue.

"Tell me, were you in the ISO wars?" Tron started the conversation, his tone casual as if he was talking to a friend.

"Yes, fought against Clu in Carbonite City," Gav answered bleakly.

"Why didn't you join Clu?"

"I had become friends with a couple of ISOs when they first came to Carbonite. They were good Programs, I knew Clu was lying when he started calling them imperfections, security hazards to the Grid, and a corruption," Gav ranted.

"What were you before? What was your programming?"

"I was an architect," the built Program gave a humorless laugh.

"Little big for an architect," Tron joked.

"I'm just a big guy, always have been. Guess my User needed me to be strong for these wars," Gav continued in his desolate tone.

"Wish my User felt that way, would have made my job a lot easier," the white Program quipped once more.

"No, I'm pretty sure he did, he just did a better job of hiding the muscle," Gav gave a quick slide glance at Tron while smirking, who joined with his own smirk.

"I think you're right," the two stared at the flashing, blinding lights of the dance floor and strobe lights as they colored the young members of the Defiance in different shades and moods of paint.

"Whatever happened to your Renegade?" Gavistan broke the comfortable silence.

"He was killed…" Tron trailed off not knowing how to phrase it entirely.

"Was it Clu?" Gav asked when Tron had failed to pick his words.

"Yes and no. He was killed by his friend. Though, I know he thought of her as much more. She was being deceived by Tesler, or so Beck thought," Tron's eyes shot open as he caught his mistake.

"Beck? That's Mara and Zed's friend right?" Gav picked up instantly.

"Right. Unfortunately, I had to tell them myself, that he was dead and that… he was Renegade,"

"They didn't know?" the soldier asked, caught off guard by facts.

"Only a couple did. It was for the best. It would only lead to an opening for the Occupation to use against him. If I lost him, then the city's last hope was gone too," Tron explained pensively.

"Of course, I understand. Who killed him?" Gav asked, not having an idea of who it was besides some Occupation slackie.

"One of Tesler's Commanders, Paige," Tron's voice was hard and tough to distinguish how he felt about her.

"A commander? Wow, sounds like your protégé needed to take a lesson on finding women," Gav was initially shocked but had swiftly recovered.

"If you can believe it, he manages to surround himself with the strongest kind of people,"

"Obviously, you seem to be the prime example," Tron laughed at the joke, but not because it was clever or funny.

"No, I believe the prime example would be Paige. It seemed the stronger the person, the closer they were to Beck. I could have been closer, but I still think she would have beaten me," Tron explained.

"She must have been a tough opponent if she was as determined as you- er… he said," Gav corrected himself.

"The little I saw of her made me think so. She was better than Beck in every area except speed. It's what saved his code every time with her,"

"Wait, how did he let her in? They sound like archenemies," Gav exclaimed, making Tron chuckle softly.

"When he wasn't the Renegade, they had worked together to save a train to Bismuth before it flew off an unfinished bridge. Apparently, he asked her on a date, but he messed up his story later and told me she had asked him," letting out another soft chuckle, Tron shook his head slightly. "He was so worried about their first date. He checked his hair a dozen times that cycle, drove me insane,"

"I heard about that train, why was it going to Bismuth if the bridge was out?"

"The train flew past Bismuth station and hadn't been able to transfer tracks,"

"Got it. How did their first date go?" Gav continued, the party still raging on bellow them, none aware of the two watching from above.

"Are we two outdated typing Programs?" Tron joked. "This is a lot of gossip for two soldiers," Gav smirked in response.

"You'd be surprised how much we can gossip, Tron," the smile on Tron's face instantly vanished and turned into a soft accusing glare, which went unseen behind his dark visor.

"How did you know?" he asked cautiously.

"I had my suspicions. As much as I would have liked to believe you scouted that carrier as well as you did, there was no possible way you did in the time given. It's only been two kilos since Clu arrived, you had less than one kilo to gather that information. I worked with recon, it takes megas, even gigacycles, to get that much intel," Gav explained calmly.

"How do you know I'm not a former general out for revenge?" This made his companion laugh.

"Even Generals remember being a grunt, Tron. They know that soldiers gossip, how they talk about their feelings, and the past. Helps them keep their sanity, their willpower to fight," Gav spoke laid-back. His reasoning was feeble at best, but the tone and his confidence was more than enough to make Tron see he was right.

"Besides, not many generals are Child Basics, those old Programs would get swamped by the new strategies," the soldier gave one more joke/reasoning before looking to Tron. The two focused on each other for a long while.

Tron was not in the luxury of having others to trust, and thus kept it to an absolute minimum, sparing it for only Mara and Zed, as they were an attachment of another trusted Program. Gav was making it clear he wanted in, and the hero of the Grid was fully against it. Paige was more than enough for his mind to worry over, especially with her recklessness he had heard recently. Now, another Program Tron wasn't ready to trust was pushing himself in and taking up residence in his mind. But Gav hadn't shown any signs of deception; in fact he was simply guarded, cautious to those he didn't know well enough yet. Which, Tron hated to admit, was very similar to his own style of dealing with people, and it looked like Gav showed his trust, the least Tron could do was give him a chance.

"Let's talk somewhere more private," Tron voiced as he proceeded upstairs towards the Observation Deck. When the two had neared the enormous glass that ran vertically across the mountain, they stared at the open tundra in front of them. It wasn't much to watch, nothing but bright snow on dark shaded rocks, a mix of white and black, changing coverage and showings but always seeming to stay equal in balance.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Tron asked tentatively.

"Says the one from behind the mask. Tron, I've been fighting Clu for gigas now, do you really think I'm going to run to him suddenly and tell him about you? I fought against him when it was clear he was going to be the victor. I don't jump to the winning side. I jump to the side that's right," Gav explained. There was a small pause between the two, then Tron's helmet collapsed back to his suit.

"You have a good head on your shoulder's Gav," Tron complemented.

"Thanks. So, you'll give me a chance?" he asked teasingly.

"Yes, don't make me regret it," the aged man warned.

"You kidding me? Rather say I got to be friends with you than fought you. Friendship is a bigger challenge than hating someone,"

"Interesting perspective," Tron commented, genuinely intrigued.

"But enough about trust, let's talk about the kid's first date," Gav disregarded Tron's obvious want to continue the intellectual topic.

"From how he acted I'm guessing he made a fool of himself," Tron smirked. "Couldn't keep the look off his face for cycles,"

"Any idea what happened?"

"He told me they went to a concert,"

"That's rare," Gav commented.

"It was a reward from Tesler. The Renegade hadn't been seen in a few cycles," Tron explained briefly. "Anyway, their concert wasn't the only one that night, two others were scheduled for the that cycle and the next,"

"You think he went to the wrong concert?" Gav deducted.

"I think he got tickets to the wrong concert," Tron corrected.

"That's it? How did that mess with the Renegade,"

"I never asked him, but I was pretty sure Beck had never gone a date before," Tron's companion scoffed at this.

"Bet she'd never been on one either," he remarked.

"I think they were out of their elements for once," Gav only laughed.

"Kids these cycles. Don't know how to go on a date… Seems like the more they're taught, the less they know,"

"You say the -" Tron's response was caught off by a small beeping coming from the center of the room.

"What's that?" Gav asked as the pair walked over.

"It's a monitoring system. It keeps a watch over Argon and lets me know of any strange activity," Tron explained pulling up the small alarm notification into the main holo screen in the middle of the room.

"Let's see what we got," Gav said as his friend played the video the system wanted to bring to their attention.

It was the very same video shown to Dyson when he was talking to Clu.

"Who's that?" Gav asked softly, hoping he wasn't disturbing Tron's thoughts too badly.

"That's Paige," Tron answered in slight dread.

"That's Paige?! She's a bludy psychopath! Are you sure Beck had his head on straight?" Gav nearly shouted in awe. Never before had he seen a Program tear apart a company so easily.

"She didn't take it well when she killed Beck,"

"She found out that he was… right," realization hit him almost immediately. A small popup had appeared next to the video. Tron opened it and found a wanted poster for Paige wearing her green helmeted and caped clothes. Her title "Doctor of Death". He made a quick mental note of the name.

"I need to find her, get his disc back, save her from herself," Tron listed quietly as he resumed watching the massacre.

"Users! She has his disc as well? And I thought I had some stories to tell! Only been one kilo here and I have the craziest story out there!" Gav proclaimed in astonishment.

"You can't tell the others," Tron growled, his attention solely on other Program in the room.

"I know, I just like a good story. Don't worry, your secrets are safe with me," Gav bowed his head slightly.

"Thank you," the brightly armored Program breathed out.

"Just one thing, what have we talked about is a secret and what isn't?" Tron looked at Gav with a tired expression.

"It's hard to remember these days,"

* * *

AN: Right after I posted the previous chapter, my fingers started working again! Lovely. No big note, just a quick little explanations and a thank you for those of you who read the story and enjoy it. Extra thank you for those who read and or review!

I typed bloody as bludy because they don't have blood, so I figured a similar sounding replacement. I type in Notes on my Mac so it only shows spelling errors, I find it better practice for writing, so if there are any errors let me know. I do like having my grammar correct.

In this story, Beck and Paige dated for longer in the series (which is a little undefined).

I hope you enjoyed!

-Rose's Requiem


	10. The First Date (Ch 10)

The First Date

* * *

 _Paige…_

"What… who's there?"

 _Paige… what are you doing?_

"Who's there?! Show yourself!"

 _Relax Paige it's me, Beck._

"Beck?! Liar! Beck's dead!"

 _Paige open your eyes, I'm right here._

Paige's eyes shot open as she looked around the small hideout. Her senses were on edge as her body felt hot and sweaty from a nightmare she couldn't remember.

 _Was it a nightmare?_ She thought to herself. Her eyes fell to the disc sitting on her lap. She had fallen asleep holding onto Beck's disc and in her wake pushed it to her lap. She leaned back down until she was once again laying down on the small bed, lifting the disc over her head and staring at it in wonder.

 _Are you causing my nightmares?_

The medic flipped the disc a few times and played with it before it slipped from her hands and landed directly on her head.

"Ow…" Rubbing her forehead where the disc's unlit edge hit her. She placed the disc back on her chest and held it tightly, comfort flowing through her as the leftover fear and anxiety of her nightmare left her. It was her last piece of Beck, she feared without it she would lose herself to the madness of anger. Fighting back the rage that was prodding the edge of her mind, she stroked her thumb against the disc and decided to look at another memory of Beck's. One she had on her own disc.

-disc memory-

"Here it is!" Beck said enthusiastically. The concert building was an old factory that had been shut down for lack of necessity.

"Are you sure Beck? This doesn't look like it," Paige replied doubtfully as she scanned the posters and designs of the building. There was a concert all right, but the theme looked too dark and heavy for it to be the band Beck was talking about. Then there were the Programs, most of them were sporting dark clothing, spiky shoulder pads, dark make up, and very… creative hair styles.

"Ticket said it was today and tomorrow," her companion told her casually. Looking back and holding his hand out for her to take. Reluctantly, she placed her hand in his and the two started to walk into the mass of Programs waiting for the concert to start.

"What was the name of the band again?" the orange circuited Program asked noting all the stares she was receiving from the nearby people.

 _Not the most welcoming crowd._ She remembered bitterly.

"Trapanese. It's the guy's second name. It's just him so I guess he's not really a band, just an artist," Beck answered back.

"Thought you said we were going to see someone else," Paige picked her voice up as they started to go farther into the crowd.

"His artist name is JT, that's who I said we were going to see," he nearly shouted back over the talk of the crowd.

"Ah," Paige answered weakly. She was still uncomfortable with the situation. Her orange circuits made her stand out against the other white circuited partiers, no one looking happy to see her there.

"Beck, wait," she said firmly, yanking his hand. He took a step back and gave Paige a questioning look. "Look around you. Do these Programs look the type to like this JT guy?" Beck did as she asked and his expression did not reassure her.

"Now that you mention it, no, not really," he said, getting closer to her.

"Are you sure this guy is playing tonight?" Paige questioned again.

"Let's go ask somebody," Beck started moving back out of the crowd, their hands still holding onto each other.

"Hey buddy, can you tell me who's playing tonight?" the young Program asked when he had decided on one of the lesser decked out looking Programs.

"Yeah, Assault Assault," the man responded enthusiastically while pumping his fist in his excitement, a few of his friends joined in.

"Right, thanks!" Beck thanked hurriedly before dashing to the door.

"Who's 'Assault Assault'?" Paige whispered as they nearly ran to the exit.

"Let's just say, neither of us will enjoy them," Beck answered vaguely. When the two exited the old factory, he looked down to the ticket he had gotten.

"Whoops," he commented weakly.

"What is it?" Paige asked looking over his shoulder. Her breath dancing lightly against his neck and ear causing sparks of electricity to jump throughout his body.

 _Her breath!_ Beck thought nervously.

"W-We, I mean I went to the wrong concert hall," Beck stammered while looking away. It didn't take a genius to see his odd behavior and Paige wondered what had caused it. Realizing their hands were still holding on to each other's, she slipped her from his grasp felt a small blush appear on her cheeks and nose. It wasn't that she was embarrassed she had like how his hand felt around hers, it was just that she hadn't been on a date in a long time, and getting used to being on one was taking its time.

"It's just down the road, if we hurry I'm sure we can still make it in time," his voice caught her attention as he pulled out a baton and broke it into his Light Bike. He took a seat and looked back to Paige who didn't move, her thoughts still distracted her as she thought about how he made her feel.

 _Geez, I acted like it was my actual first date!_ Paige thought to herself as she continued watching the memory.

"Paige," the mechanic voiced after another awkward moment. She instantly perked up and sat down behind him on the bike, wrapping her arms around his waist as she did so. Again, her thoughts instantly took over as she felt a feeling of deja vu hit her. This was her first time on a bike with Beck, aside from coming to the concert, why was she getting this feeling?

"You okay?" Beck called back as they started down the road.

"Yeah, just thinking," she answered while resting her head against his back. The vibration of the bike through his body soon filled her thoughts as they road down the street.

 _I hope she isn't regretting this_. Beck thought.

 _Sorry Beck…_ Paige thought sheepishly.

"Look we made it!" he stated as they road closer to a building, a few Programs rushing to make it inside.

"You sure?" Paige teased, trying to lighten the awkward mood they had entered ever since leaving the other concert.

"I promise," he answered as they stepped of the bike and Beck strapped it to his leg when it returned into a baton.

"Hope you don't mind that I got us seats,"

"It's fine with me, but I took you more of a dancing type,"

"When I'm in the mood I can dance, just too little tired lately," the spiky haired man stated while sighing. She could relate.

"Me too," she agreed while taking his hand. The two looked at one another, smiled, and broke into a comfortable silence as they navigated through the crowds until they had reached their seats on the second story balcony.

As if the concert was waiting for them to take their seats, it started as soon as the pair had gotten comfortable and started to relax. Beck had explained to Paige the style of JT's music. It was a mix, varying from club music, to a trance melody, even soft orchestral pieces that broke into heavier dramatic dub step styles. His last description had made her wary of the artist as the combination didn't sound good. She had been proven wrong when the solo man started off with a tranquil series of piano notes and ambient noises slowly adding notes and sounds before a strong beat could be heard and all of it crashed down as he started the waves of heavy hitting synthesized sounds. In all honestly, she could have done without all of it as she found his tranquil areas much more appealing. Thankfully, he had ended the concert with two songs matching exactly what she wanted.

Once again, it started off with ambient noises as a guitar had picked up and began strumming a simple melody. Then he began to sing. Not like his previous songs where he was singing out as if to shout over the music but to sing to his heart's feelings. The words were lost on her as it was her first time hearing the song but she remembered the repeated lyrics.

My love, will never change.

Though we ruined everything,

The stars still conspire for us

Until our final breaths.

The only constant is change.

The first time he sang them they were soft, yet burning with passion. The second time, it was loud, his heart erupting with the feelings and passion as the words came from his vocals. The last time it gentle again, as if he was talking to the one person he was singing about. The love, sentiment, and intensity all boiled down to soft words and whispers. Paige could feel tears welling up on her eyes as she imaged that amount of feeling. What was it like? To love someone so much, you devote everything to them? To write a song about how everything in the world will work towards having the two of you together? In her thoughts she hadn't noticed her grip on Beck's hand tighten, and his own fight to keep his tears inside.

The last song was nothing like the others. It was a simple piano melody with a tranquil yet dramatic background. There were no words to it, just the presence of emotions. This man, knew what it meant to love, but by the sounds of the song he also knew what it felt to lose this love. It was heavier in the middle, focusing on the drums and beat. He was telling a message, one Paige couldn't understand. Once again, it was a message for someone he loved, but it felt like it was meant for someone else. While the first song was a love song about devotion, the second was a song stating a promise of love, a long burning love, like charcoal. Ever lasting, undying and never willing to quit. Who was this man? What were these emotions?

It wasn't until a few minutes later when the crowd had started to applaud him did Paige open her eyes and realize her head was resting on Beck's shoulder.

"Ready?" he asked gently when she lifted her head. The rest of the Programs were making their way out of the concert hall. Giving a nod, the two joined the mass of Programs as they exited.

Finally reaching the outside, the two were glad to have personal space back and stretched out. Paige was still emotionally wrapped up in the artist's music as looked to be deep in thought, while Beck looked around. His eyes caught a door opening on the side of the building and saw JT exiting with a very small Program next to him. Looking closer he saw it to be a child. Beck wasn't surprised at seeing the child as he already knew of their existence, though extremely rare to see in the Grid. It was still a mystery how a child was produced, as most children didn't know their Users and clung to a pair of Programs claiming they were his/her parents. They also grew in size. As most Programs were created at their tallest form, a child grew into their adult bodies. One of the many mysteries of the Grid. Thankfully, Clu had decided that one unimportant.

A pull on his hand brought his attention back to the Program standing right next to him. Paige who seemed to have a lot of questions weighing on her mind looked to Beck with a confused and almost sad expression.

"Sorry," Beck apologized. "Was distracted,"

"What is that?" Paige asked looking the direction of the child, having followed his gaze when he hadn't responded to her first call.

"That's a child," he answered softly.

"What's that?" she asked airily.

"No one's really sure. Apparently, they're Programs that the Grid… or a User creates. These children are attached to two Programs and call them parents. They grow and eventually their Program is a mix of the two parent Programs," Beck explained briefly looking back to JT as they walked around a corner and disappeared.

"Beck, about some of his songs…" the former medic started softly. "How come they're so…"

"Powerful? Emotional?" Beck supplied.

"Yes! Exactly!" she exclaimed.

"Apparently, he was in love with a Program for a long time. Most of his early work is happier and uplifting, I assume because she influenced them. Then they were given a child. Children are usually given to a pair who fell in love but I've never read about any splitting up after receiving a child," Beck explained.

"You researched this?"

"He's my favorite artist, I wanted to know more about him," Beck answered easily. "JT and that Program stayed together for a few gigas but eventually they split up. JT took the child and now they're living together, happily I suppose. His newest set of songs are a little different than his early work but they're just as good, only in a different way," the mechanic continued to explain.

"That last song, what was that about?"

"It was about his daughter, the child. He fell in love with her as most of the parent Programs do. Not in a romantic sense but a family sense. The last song was about how no matter what happened, he would be there, to hold her, take care of her, love her,"

A peaceful silenced entered between the two as they pondered on Beck's words. The concert hall still housing exiting Programs who got on their bikes almost as soon as they had exited.

"Sounds wonderful," Paige whispered. Her body getting closer to Beck's.

"Yeah. Makes me think what kind of child I could have," Beck answered just as softly and airily. Silence settled over the two once more. Their hands no longer simply holding each other but fingers intertwined together.

"Maybe one day I'll find out," he said to himself, not realizing he had spoken out loud.

"Come on, let's go home," Paige suggested sweetly.

-disc memory-

By now, tears had been running down Paige's face for the past few nanos. Silently rolling down the side of her face while causing a stinging pressure from the back of her eyes. Their warmth being transferred to her skin until sinking into her hair as gravity pulled them down. When she became conscious of her wet eyes she became sobbing softly, small muscle spasms of her lungs causing her chest to jut outward in random moments.

She allowed her head to fully rest again the pillow it was propped up against and covered her eyes with her arm, allowing Beck's disc to rest against her chest once more. It felt relieving to cry out again, letting the pain of her loss grasp her heart and mind. But instead of reconciling with a dead Renegade she was grieving for the young Mechanic she was still just getting to know. A Program who had more heart than she could have ever imagined, caring for others with an unaccountable compassion, understanding while also pushing and striving for the best, and putting value in true effort and love.

Paige couldn't help herself from smiling at the fond memories. All his nice gestures and mannerisms, the way his attention to the small details amazed her. What had she done to deserve him? He deserved someone who could love him as much as he did. She was once like that, caring for others, healing them, tending to their needs as they recovered in their hospital beds. Where had that Paige gone? Was she consumed by the Commander? Now that the Commander was removed, there was only hatred. It fueled her and drove her, had it always done that? Or was it the Commander that taught her how to do that? She couldn't even remember. It was happening all over again. The feeling of being lost in nothingness, never knowing which way was right, where the light was, where love was.

 _I'll kept fighting._ She thought. Even if he was gone, she'd keep moving forward, keeping living. It would be what he would have wanted. At least she hoped so. What was the point of living if you lost yourself in the process?

 _To be found again._

* * *

AN: Hello, just a little update. The next section I've been trying to write is something I could really care less for so that's why it's not attached to this chapter as it should be. Sorry for the not having much, but it's all Beck and Paige so it makes up for shortness by being sweet!

And if you're wondering why Beck was so embarrassed (as part of Gav and Tron's conversation in the previous chapter) I'm going with the reasoning that he let someone in so easily, I think he would care less about a little mistake as going to a wrong concert.

Originally, this little thing was only to introduce the voice that Paige hears and the disc dropping on her head was the end. Just goes to show, if you have a small idea write it down, you might be able to turn it into something huge.

If you guys didn't know Joseph Trapenese is the man who composed the music for Tron: Uprising, I wanted to use his name to give him credit for the wonderful soundtrack he provided for the show while using music from my favorite artist BT (Brian Transeau). The three songs I tried to describe were: 13 Angels On My Broken Windowsill, The Only Change is Constant, and Good Morning Kaia. Good Morning Kaia is a song devoted to his daughter and the video on YouTube makes me cry a little every time I watch it.


	11. A Clash of Discs (Ch 11)

A Clash of Discs

* * *

It wouldn't be long now, only a few cycles maybe a kilo at the most until the Super Recognizer was fixed. How did they plan to use it? Would it be another ship in Clu's flying army or would it simply go after Tron and its sole design of repurposing him be its function? Dyson could only guess as he stared out over the length of one of the massive legs of the ship, a random array of sparks flashing to life on it showing the work that was proceeding ahead of schedule.

It was no small task by any means but he still found it beneath him to oversee the project. Pavel would be more in line to make sure it got done, and without any slip ups. It was one of the few times Dyson actually believed the Program would excel at his duty.

Turning away from the leg and walking past the end of it, Dyson was greeted with a yellow sight.

"Clu, I wasn't expecting you so soon," he started as stood a bit taller.

"Yes, well I thought I'd see your progress and tell you that Pavel will be stopping the games," Clu stated calmly, his hands clasped behind his cloak as he lazily inspected the ship.

"Right," Dyson affirmed.

"I want you to join him in three micros, make sure everything goes accordingly," Clu said.

"I'll get right to it," Dyson answered. The yellow helmeted Program nodded as he started walking away, clearly done with his inspection and briefing.

Dyson stood a moment and waited for Clu to disappear from sight. When the elevator platform had brought Clu back up into the Recognizer he came in, Dyson turned and started his last inspection for the cycle. Sadly, he couldn't help his thoughts stray to the annoying shriveling Program that was Argon's newest General.

 _Great, another assignment with Pavel..._

* * *

"Programs of Argon! I apologize that as my first decree as General of this fine city is one you will not like, but, this will be the last game held until further notice," Pavel's voice rang out through the coliseum a chorus of boos and moans sounded after.

"Do not fret! You will now be under the hospital custody of the great Clu as you are now trespassing on sacred grounds!" The reaction was instant, shouts of terror and rage filling the empty arena as chaos followed.

"Round up the law breakers," The general commanded darkly to the guards in the room with him. They went on there way through the exit in the back leaving him to watch the Programs running hopeless to the exits, where transports and guards awaited them.

* * *

Tron woke to the sound of his alarm going off next to his bed. It wasn't the alarm to wake him but his monitoring system for Argon. As part of his coding, he was able to wake instantly and without any grogginess from his sleep. Looking at the system, he saw a video feed of the coliseum surrounded by Occupation soldiers putting Programs into large transport vehicles. It was obvious they were being arrested but why?

Deciding to take immediate action, he stood from the small bed and proceeded towards the holo room, hoping to inform someone that he would be leaving for recon. When he found everyone asleep besides Link who was tirelessly fighting off generated Black Guards in a far corner of the room he decided on a different plan.

"Link," Tron called out through is helmet as he approached the Program finishing up another round of guards. The Program looked exhausted, sweat running down his face, his face showing pain, and his arms hanging too loose by his side for Tron's liking.

"Sir!" Link saluted as he saw Tron's approaching figure.

"I have a job for you, your performance during our last mission was approvable. If you have the energy, I'd like for you to do some recon," Tron explained briefly.

"Of course! What do you need me to do?" came the excited reply.

"I want you to sneak into Argon and find out what's going on at the coliseum,"

"Alright, I just need my bike and I'll be on my way," Link said as he went to the rooms to get his baton. When he returned, Tron was already moved to the elevator, waiting for him.

"Before you go, there are a few things I should tell you. Clu and his forces will know your face, if you're seen they will derezz you on the spot, don't give them that chance. I only want to know what's happening at the coliseum and where the Programs that are being arrested are going. If you see Tesler or any commanding officer I want you to keep a distance, I know you've been training and pushing yourself, but this isn't the time," Tron finished.

"I know, just recon," Link said, understanding the situation fully.

"Good, make sure you're back before the start of the next cycle. Good luck," Tron nodded his head as the renegade entered the elevator to the bottom floor, a confident smile on his face.

* * *

Tron had watched Link on his journey into Argon, as well as his return, through his magnifying lens on the hideout glass. When he reported that the Games were momentarily stopped and all the Programs had been arrested for trespassing the questions only mounted for the great Program. But what hadn't surprised Tron was the fact that Pavel was the new reigning general for the city.

He was holding a small strategy meeting with Mara and Gav, something he had started doing after the success of the first mission. Informally, the two had become Tron's second in command, often acting as teachers towards the others than learners. While each had their own close friend to go to that would help them out, Zed to Mara, as Pearl to Gav, though the latter wasn't involved romantically.

"What if we set up a base in the coliseum?" Mara suddenly asked while the other two were taking a moment to think of best next move.

"Are you serious?" Gav asked. After Gav's revelation that he knew who Tron was, he was immediately introduced to Mara and Zed as another confidant for the Renegade's and Tron's identity. Zed was impressed that he had managed to figure it out on his own, and was quick to make friends while Mara was hesitant at first, almost hostile, as she thought it was unorthodox and rude. Luckily, Zed had convinced her that he had reveled himself with good intentions while also being honest, but he figured it was the fact he had figured out who Tron was so easily that had ticked off Mara.

"Yes! Who would expect it? Clu wouldn't see it, and I don't think he plans to use it for anything," she reasoned a pep in her voice as she contained her excitement.

"But what's to stop Clu from simply demolishing the structure?" Tron countered.

"Well… I guess we don't really know for sure. But he doesn't exactly have a reason to do it either! Wouldn't it be a waste to get rid of the building?" Mara asked.

"That section of the Grid is huge, he could easily make it into a production area for Recognizer, Light Bikes, or Jets if he wanted," Tron answered, causing Mara to visibly deflate.

"I think it's a good idea," both turned to look at the third member of their group. "If we want to win this fight we need to think of different ways to beat Clu. He knows Tron, he knows his strategies. This is exactly why me and Mara are here, to provide crazy ideas that just might work," Gav explained cooly. There was a small pause for consideration before Tron nodded his head.

"You're right. If we want to beat Clu we'll have to task bigger risks. A safe point within the city would be a considerable asset to the Defiance. I'm not going to risk everyone's safety for it, though. Gav, I want you to take a small group, four others at the most, and take a look around. Bring Link with you, he seems to know a way into the city while also getting through it, have him report back to me with any information. If the coliseum doesn't look safe, or in threat of being used or destroyed by Clu, I want you back here as soon as possible," Tron commanded.

"Wait! I don't get to go?" Mara pouted in dismay.

"That's up to Gavistan, if it was up to me I'd take the quietest and most coordinated with me," the Child Basic answered calmly. Mara looked over to Gav with big pitiful eyes.

"Don't get your circuits crossed, I was going to bring you along anyway. I know you want Zed to come along, and before you ask I'm saying no," Mara returned her face to a pleading puppy dog stare after hearing that. "Don't give me that face, I think it'd be better to keep Zed and Pearl here to help train the others,"

"But Tron's here," Mara countered weakly.

"Yes, but you know this group is too large for one Program to train effectively," Gav and Tron both knew that to be a lie, but Mara didn't. The reason Gav didn't want Zed on the mission was because he was the least quiet Program out of the renegades. When he felt comfortable, mainly when he was with people he trusted, he would chat away, it didn't matter where he was.

"Fine," Mara said in defeat, her head hanging down a few inches from the table they were seated around.

"I'll go get the others I want in the group, tell them what we're doing, and get ready," Gav stood, the chair he occupied sliding with a small pitch against the floor.

"Good. Leave at night, around the same time Link did yesterday," Tron instructed as he turned to the table and started pulling up files of information and maps. The table generated holograms against itself as Tron looked into files and found what he was looking for.

"I mapped out most of Argon a while back, I want you two to have this file on your disc, I'm sure it will help," Tron pointed to two circles that appeared on the table that looked to be the outlining of discs. Mara and Gav looked at them for a second before taking their discs and placing it in the circles. A small green light appeared next to each disc showing the transfer had been completed.

"Cool," Mara said as she opened the file and was shown with a birds eye view of the city.

"You can zoom in for a closer look. The map will show up to 250 square meters accurately in some areas, mainly the center,"

"Why haven't you given this to us before?" Gav asked.

"The Defiance didn't need it yet," Tron answered simply.

"What about Link?" Mara inquired.

"He has one as well,"

Mara felt reassured knowing he had one when he first went into Argon. Apparently, the conversation was over for Gav who left the room and headed down to the holo room to prepare his group. The cyan haired girl soon followed after realizing she had nothing to left to say, leaving the savior of the Grid to his thoughts.

* * *

"We ready?" Gav looked back to the other Programs in the squad. The members he had decided on we're Mara, Link, Bartik, and Hopper. All of them knew each other and worked well together even before joining the Defiance, giving them an advantage over their teammates. While Gav himself hadn't worked with them, he was experienced enough to compensate for the lack of formality and knowledge the other Programs had with each other.

"I'm good," Bartik answered first, turning to look at the others.

"Good," Hopper said, fastening the emergency Baton Jet to his left leg.

"Ready," Link said, his body apparently rested enough to go on the same trip he had done the previous cycle.

"Let's go," Mara said determinately before stepping forward and breaking her baton open and zooming off on her Light Bike. Gav glared after her and followed, breaking his own baton and riding after her. It hadn't taken long for the others to catch up and soon the group was traveling tightly together as the road digitalized before them and disintegrated after. Anyone who caught sight of them from a distance would think they were driving on air.

At some point when they had started riding on solid ground Link had taken lead of the pack. When the group was half a kilometer out from the guard post to the Link veered off the road and headed closer to the section of the large wall that helped separate the outlands from the city. The terrain was smooth but hilly. On a few occasions, the others would lose sight of their lead as he went down one of the steeper hills only to appear on the top of the next one. After riding for few minutes the hills stopped and it was just a downward travel. The others had seen the whole before Link pointed it out to them.

"There's a tunnel that leads into the city. It's how I got in," he shouted back to them as they approached the whole in the wall. Stopping in front of it, the group took a moment to plan their movements.

"Link, where does this open up?" Gav asked, inspecting the five meter tall tunnel.

"I use it to get to Able's garage but it goes farther. I haven't explored it all the way but I think it goes underneath Argon Square," Link said.

"Argon Square, huh?" Gav muttered mainly to himself.

"I know a way to the coliseum from Able's garage," the smaller Program interjected. Gav seemed to ponder for a moment before speaking.

"Alright, we'll follow your lead, Link. We should explore these tunnels, could come in handy in the future," he decided while motioning for Link to take the lead again.

As the group was once again lead by Link, the others could help but find the tunnel somewhat… peaceful. It was spacious enough for them to use their bikes in single file, and as they rode through the shaft at a calm tour the different circuit lights from the bikes danced off the interior walls. Instead of the walls being made with the same plastic and glass like substance that formed most of the Grid, the material was course and seemed to be composed more of the dark stone the mountain and the Outlands were made of. It's material glittered and shimmered with the colorful circuit lights and played with other dazzling colors, mixing and darting to random areas of the tunnels as they passed.

"Link, how'd you find out about this place?" Mara asked breathlessly as she was caught in the magic happening before her. The others were on the same page as their eyes were also glued to the walls.

"I found it one cycle after my shift. I didn't really have anything to do… so I just started riding around and I found this," he called back as he felt the nostalgic emotions creeping up on him from recalling the memory.

"It's amazing!" she uttered still consumed by the awe and beauty.

They road on for a few more minutes, passing other pipes that were perpendicular to their path. It seemed to go on forever but eventually Link stopped in front of one perpendicular tunnel and turned into it. As first, they all thought they were simply making a turn but when they had all rounded the corner they saw Link with no bike and climbing up the side of the tunnel to a ledge that went upward.

"This goes right behind Able's garage," Link stated as he climbed the ladder hugging the wall.

Cautiously, everyone derezzed their bikes and followed. When they reached the surface they were in a dark alley that was in fact behind Able's garage. Link was already at the end of the alley peering around the corner to make sure the coast was clear when Bartik was lifted up to his feet and Hopper closed the gate behind him.

"The Occupation has this place blocked off, so there aren't any guards until we get to the barriers," Link whispered. "Just follow me and we'll be fine,"

"Wait, have you checked out what's going on over there?" Gav grabbed Link's shoulder before he could run off and pointed toward the downed Super Recognizer where guards and engineers were walking around and working. Link shook his head in response.

"No, I never saw anyone over there when I was here," he pointed out as he turned to head in that direction.

"Hold on, I'll take lead," Gav said as he stopped the eager mechanic once more. Sticking to his word, he set off in front and went into the garage through one of the side entrances. The place was deserted besides the debris of bikes, tanks, and other vehicles previously being worked on until the fall of the great machine. Making their way to the main entrance the group gathered at the edge of the wall and took peaks around the corner to see the Super Recognizer. Gav had taken out the binoculars Tron had given him and was scanning the area for who was in charge. He gave a short grunt of annoyance as he couldn't see anyone familiar, only a single officer who seemed to be the current commander.

"What is it?" Mara asked, worried his grunt was something serious.

"Nothing. Just don't see anyone important over there," he answered disappointed. The others were taken aback at his statement.

"What you want someone like Tesler there? We're not looking for a fight," Bartik said in a accusing tone.

"No, I don't know. Just want to find something important I guess," Gav sighed returning the binoculars to his side and looking on.

"Well, what did you see?" Mara asked.

"Nothing, looks like they're just working on the thing," he said as if it wasn't important.

"You're saying that like it doesn't matter," she pointed out hotly.

"Look at that thing, no way it'll fly anytime soon. I'm just focusing on other things. Things that'll be a problem sooner than later," her defended himself.

"We should still report this to Tron," she stated firmly.

"We will when we get back. For now, we have to get to the coliseum and check out the area," Gav said as he started walking back toward the entrance they came in. The others gave a few glances back at the Super Recognizer before following their group leader.

Once they were back outside Gav told Link that he was to take point again and show them the way to the coliseum. The Program set off toward another set of allies without another word. Luckily, their trip was uneventful as they approached the barrier, yet Gav couldn't help the feeling they were being watched and was constantly on alert as they made their way through the industrial area. When they were only a block away from the large red wall the Occupation had constructed, Link started climbing up a ladder which was hidden by the darkness of the alleyway. The others looked at each other briefly before following and took a small break on the top of the ten story building.

"What do we do from here?" Gav asked as he scanned the area for a way toward the coliseum which was barely visible in the distance.

"Just follow me across the roofs. We'll keep heading north and then eventually we'll cross over them from this bridge on the rooftops," Link answered, before setting off once more. After jumping from one roof to the next, they had reached an area where the road the Occupation had set up their barrier was narrower and they could see a bridge that gapped two buildings together. Apparently, the Occupation had thought little of the skybridge and hadn't bothered with any guards or blockades. Making it across, the team took a small breather as Link took out his digital map and studied the hologram.

"I think we're okay to head straight for the coliseum," he proposed as he closed down the map and turned towards the other.

"What about the guards? It's past curfew," Gav questioned.

"It's fine. They lifted the curfew, didn't you know?" Link informed them to their surprise.

"What? When did this happen?" Mara exclaimed as they made it to ground level.

"It happened a few cycles ago. Clu made a big announcement at Argon Square,"

"Why would he do that?" Mara wondered softly to herself.

"He said that Tesler's laws were to harsh and that all Programs had the right to do as they pleased, as long is was in his favor," Link said with distaste. "Crazy Program," The other's fell silent as they thought it over.

"Once we make it to the road we can just ride most of the way to the coliseum," Link said.

"Wait. I don't think we should go together," Gav informed them as they neared the end alleyway. "We'll look too suspicious if we go together," he explained.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Mara asked hesitantly.

"Safer than if we were together. Ready?" Gav answered as he stepped out into the empty street with his baton his hand.

"Sounds good to me," Bartik said as he followed by breaking apart his baton. The rest followed and headed off in different directions with Mara being the last to head off.

 _Why does it feel like something's watching us…_ Mara thought as she looked one last time at the alley they had just come from before turning the corner and heading toward the coliseum.

* * *

Cyrus had watched the small group of Defiance members from the time they infiltrated the city to their arrival at the coliseum. It was interesting to watch them as the smallest and least experienced lead the group and the two fighting for leadership over the group. The bigger man was clearly had more knowledge on leading a group but the female he knew as Mara was too head strong and enthusiastic to let him do his job. Instantly, gathering data on the other two who were clearly very close and well disciplined, Cyrus had grown bored of watching them and decided on what needed to be fixed. While the smaller Program had no choice but to lead as he knew the way, Mara should have asked the veteran Program to lead as she needed more exposure. It was mindless thinking as he continued to watch the small Program heading back through underground tunnels back out to the hideout.

* * *

"Sir," Link started when he was a few feet behind Tron who was facing toward the training Programs in the holo room. The travel back was much less nerve wrecking for the smaller mechanic as he didn't have others to show they way and worry about. While he was working to change his body and mind, his physical body was coming along greatly. His body had started to grow and he could now lift weights twice as much as he used to and was able to run at a strong jog for over an milli. Yet as his body progressed he found it much harder to change his mindset. Still being somewhat isolated by the group, not because of his weak personality, but because the amount he worked and pushed himself was high above the others and no one could keep up with his effort. Whether they were intimidated, embarrassed, or simply weary of approaching him and making a conversation he wasn't sure and hoped that after he had his body where he wanted he could finally join a group and be part of it.

Tron turned until his whole body was facing Link, showing he had his full attention.

"What do you have to report?" He asked.

"We've made it into the coliseum with no problems. Gav is confident that the Occupation left it without having plans to use it later. Mara wasn't sure but agreed. Bartik and Hopper... They just drove around in their bikes," Link informed, his last sentence added hesitantly. Whether Tron cared or not that the pair had goofed off he didn't show it as he nodded his head in understanding.

"Thank you, Link. This could be a great asset to the Defiance and the fight for Argon. I'm glad you were able to find a way into the city as well, you don't know how valuable that is," Tron complimented his student softly. He had decided to ease up a little on the harsh words and pushing of Programs, as was his style of training Cyrus and Beck, because of what had happened to the two Renegades. One crazy and one dead obviously showed flaws in his training of the two. So he fell back on trying to think like Beck, having seen how he could corral his friends and other Programs to follow his thinking and made them push themselves, both as Beck The Mechanic and Beck The Renegade.

Link's eyes shot open as he felt the older Program's hand on his shoulder giving him a reassuring pat. Had he known the true Tron he would have been in danger of having his system shocked at seeing the Program acting so out of character.

"O-Of course sir!" Link stood taller and glowed with pride.

"Now, go get some rest. I know you're pushing yourself but you need to rest your body,"

"Right..." Link trailed off as he relaxed his body, letting the exhaustion of the past three cycles set in.

He excused himself and headed towards the rooms. Passing the training Programs he watched as everyone was training with staff batons and either dueling other members or simulated guards. Unintentionally, he searched for a familiar face among the crowd but quickly caught himself. The pain of remembering one of his friends washed over him and slowed his walk. Torch was another mechanic who was somewhat of an outcast, but unlike Link she was an outcast in a sense that she didn't have a group of her own but she was able to friend one person from all the closely knitted groups of Programs, thus everyone knew her but no one was close to her. Link wasn't exactly jealous of her, instead he looked up to her. She had such a strong personality that she was able to be happy by herself and she knew what she liked. It was odd to think that he was the closest thing she would call a best friend.

* * *

Tron had watched the small mechanic walk to the sleeping area and had seen his expression turn downcast as he glanced at the other Defiance members. He recalled how he reacted when he learned that two Programs had died on the mission. He was close to one of the two Tron was sure of that, but he wasn't sure how he was actually holding up. Instead of wasting time in thinking of areas he had no expertise in, Tron left the holo room and went to his room. Finding his Baton Jet, he stuck it to his leg and left to find Pearl and Zed. Once again in the holo room, he quickly spotted the two sparring against each other near the middle of the others and approached them. The two both sweaty and exhausted stopped their fighting when they noticed his presence.

"Hello Renegade," Zed started, his voice honest sounding, Tron was grateful for that.

"Zed. Pearl," he greeted curtly. "I'm going to head to the coliseum, appears that it may be our forward point in the city," he explained.

"You want us to make sure we're all behaving, right?" Zed joked casually, not realizing who he was with. When neither of the two responded to the joke he quickly righted his formal posture. "Right, we'll make sure to keep training," he tried again with more seriousness.

"Thank you, Zed. I'll be back today or next cycle, depending on what I find. I'll send the others back here when I get there so expect them coming later today,"

"Sure thing," Zed confirmed before Tron left without another word.

* * *

The sound of footsteps alert Gav to a presence coming from down the hall he was currently in. Knowing his team was patrolling and exploring other areas of the coliseum, he pulled out his disc and started to slowly walk toward the footsteps. Leaping from a corner after the sound died away, he was met with only a empty corridor that lead back to the center of coliseum.

"I see you all still need some work," came a distorted voice from behind him. He let out a sigh and placed his disc back on his dock before turning to face the nearly blacked out Tron.

"You don't really expect us to be able to spot you do you?" Gav asked.

"I wasn't programmed for stealth," Tron stated as if it explained everything.

"You can learn things outside your programming you know?"

"I'm a Basic, I'm designed to follow my protocol without second thought,"

"Yeah, exactly! Your protocol is to protect the Grid, and stealth is one way to help you do you job," the veteran exclaimed.

"Let's regroup with the others," Tron said, ignoring his friend's argument.

The two went to the center of the area and Gav called out to the others. While it was rather unorthodox and could inform unwanted ears to their presence he figured it was fine. Eventually, they were all together again with the added person of Tron.

"I want you all to head back to the hideout and start informing the others," Tron said authoritatively. "We'll go through as planned and make this out forward post, I'll give you a list of the things we'll need here along with who I want to be stationed here. It's a risky move to separate our group, especially since we're nothing in comparison to the army so make sure to use it to your advantage," he instructed.

"What are we going to do here exactly?" Hopper asked, not fully understanding the purpose of the base.

"This'll be where we take out new initiates. It'll be a safe way of finding out who's trustworthy without compromising the location of the hideout. We'll also be using it to launch our missions. It's much closer in to any location in the city than the hideout," Tron explained.

"Why can't we stay here? You know, help keep it safe?" Bartik asked.

"I'll be able to manage it on my own. It should take the whole kilo to transfer what we need and who's supposed to watch over this place," When he didn't get a response he figured it was time for the team to set off. Giving them a thin plastic ring that appeared to fit on top of a disc he explained that his lists were on it.

"Just put it on your disc and it'll upload the information, leave it on my desk when you get back," he told him. He started to walk and do his own scouting, the others took this as a sign of dismissal and started to make their way to the exit.

* * *

Tron slowly walked back into the large open area of the coliseum field. He looked around at the empty stands, the over hanging roof, the large five story tall bells, and lastly the room that overlooked all of the colosseum where Tesler would watch the Games.

Continuing his journey to the middle of the field, the echo of Tron's boots landing on the floor was the only sound as it flew through the open air and bounced off the distant walls. With the lights off it wasn't the easiest to see around but the legendary Grid saver's eyes were hardened and still picked up the smallest detail even in the absence of light and old age. The air was dry, almost dusty. An odd kind of feeling, and out of place. The arena itself was only abandoned a few cycles ago, how could it have gotten the sense of abandonment in such little time? The walls were still new but the area seemed worn and tired, probably from such high traffic of Programs coming and going.

Tron suddenly felt the echo's of his boots being blocked from hitting the walls behind him. He senses screamed at him to turn around and find out who or what was now in his presence. Complying to his over active senses he turned to see a heavily robed figure with their helmet on. Knowing very few Programs who could sneak up on him, Tron pulled out his disc knowing the only one who was friendly was dead.

"Hello..." Tron paused as he tried to figure out who it could be "…Cyrus,"

A dark growl of a laugh came from the Program. The psychotic laugh didn't unnerve Tron but made him tense up in anticipation of a fight.

"Very good, but still expected," Cyrus replied dryly. Tron felt his grip on his disc tighten ready to ignite his disc and rid Cyrus of the Grid once and for all.

"Did you want to catch me alone so you could get an advantage on me?" Tron inquired. Cyrus seemed to grow serious through body language. Growing rigid and clearly looking directly and Tron through his helmet.

"I don't need an advantage to take you down! I am better than you! I always have been!" Cyrus shouted his voice echoing off the vacant walls and stands of the coliseum.

"That's not how I see it. The way I see it, you've never actually won a fair fight with me," Tron taunted. He narrowed his eyes and allowed a deep scowl to carve its way onto his face. Anger starting to flood his body from his core.

"Excuses! You are the great Tron! The savior of the Grid! Just admit you were beat by me!" Cyrus yelled once more. A grin crept onto his face with the thought of his last statement.

"Cyrus, you're mad. You need help," Tron said hopelessly.

"I'm not mad. You and your pitiful group of renegades are the ones who need help. You can't honestly expect to bring down Clu with a couple mechanics. You need me to do it! I can!"

"What you want to do is destroy the Grid! I'm trying to fix it, let it heal from Clu's diseased mind!"

"The Grid is lost! Only reseting it will allow it to heal!"

"Listen to yourself! You sound like Clu!"

"Clu doesn't want to save the Grid, he just wants control," the heavily tattooed Program took a pause as if contemplating a thought. "In fact, he has something bigger in mind than just the Grid," his former mentor squinted his eyes. He knew Clu had something more in mind that just the Grid, megacycles of spying on him assured him that much, but not even a clue to what it was.

"You have an idea of what it is don't you?" Tron growled.

"Maybe. But it doesn't concern me. No matter what he, any other Program or User does, I'm in control here," Cyrus chuckled manically.

"Cyrus, you have to tell me what you know!" Tron shouted in anger.

"And if I don't?" Cyrus challenged.

"Then I'll just take a look at your disc,"

"That's funny, I don't remember you winning out last few meetings,"

Cyrus smirked and stood taller, his own version of initiating the battle. His opponent charged forward slashing their disc downward. Easily dodging the attack, he reacted by reaching for Tron's wrist. Knowing his former apprentice, the older experienced Program moved faster and slammed his free hand into the restricting grasp on his arm. The sudden pain made Cyrus release his grip but reached out and grabbed his other wrist. Pulling back, bringing his enemy with him, Cyrus fell to his back and launched Tron over himself. Landing catlike, Tron threw his disc at the recovering Cyrus only to see it miss by mere centimeters. Cyrus had regained his footing faster than his mentor hoped and arc his body away from the disc.

Tron gritted his teeth seeing his former apprentice grinning confidently.

 _You let your arrogance and confidence blind you._ Tron thought hotly. It was clear Cyrus had thrown away his training as he gained new power. Tron's disc returned to him and the two resumed their glaring at each other as they slowly paced around each other. One waiting in smug confidence while the other controlled his growing hatred and planed his next attack. Knowing he had to come up with new plans, Tron figured of a way to put his apprentice in place. Thinking of how simple it was, he couldn't help but grin to himself.

"The great Tron smiles? What do I owe the pleasure?" Cyrus taunted sarcastically. Though he still appeared confident, his mentor's small smile had caused a spike of fear to run through the older Renegade. Instead of hiding his smirk, Tron let it grow wider at the younger Program's words.

Then, without warning he was bolting toward Cyrus, his disc a blazing trail of burning white energy as he readied it to jab at his opponent. Cyrus was not caught off guard by the abrupt charge and started rolling out of the way of the strike until his foot snagged on something and tripped. In the second he had to take to control his fall he felt his disc pulled from the dock. Flipping his body around to grab the thief only to find it too late as the body had moved out of his reach. He stood and felt the anger causing his pulse and energy to run wild. How could he be so simply played to lose his disc? A simple trip.

Tron stood casually a few feet away, inspecting the disc, flipping it a few times before looking to its owner.

"I can't find any modifications. Looks like you just altered your coding. You'd risk your life for power?" Tron asked already knowing the answer, seeing it across the man's body in front of his eyes.

"I don't need my disc to defeat you!" Cyrus hollered, his eyes crazed with rage.

"Prove it," Tron challenged darkly, lowering his stance. He extended his left leg, keeping it bent just a small faction compared to his other leg with rotated to point sideways from his body and was in a 90 degree lock. His left arm, the one holding Cyrus's disc, extended in the same fashion as his left leg as it stayed directly over it. His right shoulder lined in the opposite direction of his left as the disc was aimed forward.

Cyrus hesitated a moment as he saw a stance completely new to him. Tron had never trained him to fight with two discs, let alone show him! New things were best seen at a distance at first, and as one learned more they got closer and closer until they knew what they were up against. At least that was Cyrus's thinking, know your enemy before they know you. The small spike of fear from earlier had grown into a circulator stopping terror as he realized he was unprepared for the fight.

Collecting himself, Cyrus reasoned and remembered the tools he had at his disposal. Growling, but still carrying a tiny bit of fear, he ran toward Tron with enhanced speed, reaching him in half the time it took a well trained Program. Deciding on attack with speed over strength, the tattooed Program started with a quick blow of his right fist. As he expected he missed, but what surprised him was the counter he was facing before he even had time to throw his second punch. The solid ground was quickly leaving his feet as he soon found himself sideways and falling before an elbow slammed into his face. Pain seared through his face as he flew a few feet back onto the ground. He grabbed his nose before releasing it as stabbing agony blinded his vision. It was obvious his nose was broken. Shutting out the pain and focusing on the violently thrashing anger he felt in his chest, he opened his eyes and peered at Tron who was still standing his in new stance. He looked as if he hadn't moved, and Cyrus was devastated by a magical force. Cursing under his breath, the darker Program stood, his teeth clenched together under tight lips.

Tron intended to end the problem he created at that moment. Slowly striding over to the Program, he held the discs at the ready on both sides, preparing to lash out a fury of strikes. His target clenched his fist and readied himself. Spinning his body to perform a 360, Tron started his assault with a heavy hitting swing with his own disc. As planned, his enemy dodged out of the way by arcing his spine backwards to over the high hitting slash. Tron followed his swing with a cutting punch with Cyrus's disc, again missing the intended target who ducked lower as placed himself under the disc. Their bodies were extremely close and Tron realized he had over extended himself. Expecting to be tripped up he started to jump back. Landing a safe distance he found he had lost something rather crucial to the fight, the second disc.

While the disc was hovering over Cyrus he had made a quick impromptu decision. Punching through the hole of his own disc, he locked his arm and pulled against the retreating form of Tron. Cyrus's momentum beating Tron's grip, the disc had stayed with its owner.

"I would say I'm impressed, but then I'd be lying to myself," Tron said as he watched Cyrus take his disc of his arm.

"This isn't over," Cyrus growled before bolting in the opposite direction. Tron made to follow but quickly stopped himself as he realized he had no way of catching up.

 _Damn it!_ Tron cursed to himself as he continued to watch the shrinking form of his old apprentice. It wasn't over, not by a long shot, and Tron dreaded the next time Cyrus would show himself.

* * *

AN: This took me a lot longer than I thought it would. Sorry for the quality and jumpiness of the story and narration, I decided to get what I could down and post it regardless of it sounding good or fluid. I _hated_ this chapter. So, it's like my first few chapters, it's there and it needs a lot of work. I figure when I'm finished with this story I'll go back and rewrite it because I know I can do better.

Anyway, I hope you guys don't find it too boring, I know there's no romance (though this story turned out a lot let romantic than I planned) but next chapter will have some.

I usually don't ask for feedback just because I only wanted people to see my thoughts on this single image inspired idea but I really did struggle with chapter, so if you could send me your thoughts. On a certain chapter, the whole idea of the story so far, a single character, or what's going to happen in the future please leave a review or send me a message, I'd really _really_ appreciate.

Also hoped you enjoyed my one-shot I posted on Beck and Paige, that was a lot easier to write than this.

I hope you enjoyed, I'm going to stand in line at Best Buy now and get Battlefront, yay :)

-Rose's Requiem


	12. Whispers of a Dead Man (Ch 12)

Whispers of a Dead Man

* * *

Again, Paige found herself waking from a forgotten nightmare, the lingering terror still haunting her body and mind. A heavy sigh left her as she rested her arm over her sweaty forehead. With her other free hand she squeezed the disc she had started to constantly fall asleep with on her chest. The comforted flooded through her sensitive nerves banishing the horrors of her night terror away. Feeling better, she let out another sigh, this one more content and peaceful than her previous one. She sat up, knowing she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep and started skimming through the memories of the disc as was ritual with her reoccurring nightmares. Deciding on one, she remembered a thought she had forgotten when looking at another memory when she saw the image of her own face in the memory.

 _The first time we met…_ she thought as she played the memory.

-disc memory-

"Finally, I've been waiting for you," came the cold yet silky tone of Paige's voice as she looked over to the direction of Beck's kneeling form.

"Wow… Now I really feel special," Beck muttered as he watched the Commander's confident stride to him.

"Don't flatter yourself Program, this isn't just for you, it's for everyone," came her less than friendly response.

"What happened last night was nothing short of sedition," she announced as a video recording of Clu's statue being blown up appeared between the legs of the Recognizer. Murmurs and whispers went through the crowd as they watched the video advance and show a masked Program donning the mark of Tron. Mara and Zed had helped Beck back to his feet as they turned to look at the video.

"If you know this Program, turn him in," the Commander said matter-of-factly. The whispers continued as the video stopped on the image of the disguised mechanic, his chest clearly visible.

"Looks like Tron!" came a voice from the back of the group.

 _Looks like I'm in the clear_ Beck thought as she looked to his friends and the mechanics around him, none showing any indication of recognizing him.

"As long as he's free, you won't be," Paige uttered darkly, before moving toward the group, mainly Beck. "I'm here to announce that Tesler is bringing the Games to Argon. In a few cycles we will be rounding up volunteers until this impostor is apprehended," she informed them as she glared at Beck.

 _Aren't you intimidating?_ Beck taunted in his head. He kept his gaze neutral as she spun in place before walking off, all the while giving Beck a hard look.

"Now, back to work," she said casually, walking away, and signaling for the sentries to follow. Only giving the smallest linger, Beck turned back to the Light Bike he was supposed to have done the previous cycle and pulled out his recoder with his usual fancy flip of the device, unknowingly catching the eye of Paige. Before he could place it on the bike, his arm was snatched by the opposing grip of the Commander and yanked upward, his body following until he was fully facing Paige.

"Where'd you get that?" she asked curiously.

"Uh… I-I found it!" he stuttered, panicking at the thought he may have blown his cover.

"He got it from the cabinet where we keep all the tools," Able's voice suddenly came from behind Paige as the two turned to look over at the older Program. The wise mechanic looked confident as he rested one of his fists on his hip and lounged against the cabinet he had just opened. Paige turned back to Beck, who's hand she still held and let go of it with a aggravated flick of her wrist.

"Back to it, Program," she huffed before strutting off back to her ship.

"Nice to meet you," Beck called out nicely to her retreating form. He thought he deserved a little fun at her expense since she was so hostile and decided it'd be funny to try and be overly friendly.

"I see the feeling is mutual," Zed commented. The spiky haired mechanic turned to his friend and gave him a cocky grin.

"Alright everyone. The soldiers are gone, let's get back to work," Able called out.

-disc memory-

 _So that's when I first met him as…_ him Paige thought, letting her head fall back to the pillow.

What would have been like if I dated him back then? How would I have dated him back then? Paige laughed as she remembered her incredibly cold and stiff attitude towards people.

 _Why did you start dating me, Renegade? I'm just a cold, heartless Program_ She mused woefully. Instead of wallowing in her dark feelings, she decided to answer her question and looked back into the memories of a dead man.

-disc memory-

"Hey, glad you could make it," Beck called as Paige entered the small bar. The establishment was nothing too fancy, but it was definitely cozy and seemed quite private. Being on the edge of the industrial and urban areas, it often found a mix of customers but wasn't packed as the clubs down the main road weren't too far of a walk and gathered most of the after work crowd. The pool tables were set up on one side of the bar as the booths and tables were Beck was located was positioned on the other side.

"Of course, kind of hard to miss this place, even though it's so small," she said smoothly, taking a seat across in the booth across from him. Beck couldn't stop his fidgeting as his nervousness battled with his conscious. The first date had gone… well… wonderfully but he couldn't shake the fact that he had been so open about himself and was curious as how Paige felt about it.

"I just wanted to say, about our first date, I don't usually get so emotional about things. I hope I didn't put you off," Beck started awkwardly.

 _Users… why am I so nervous? I'm the Renegade! Pull it together!_ He encouraged himself. When he heard Paige's gentle, sweet chuckle he looked up from his hands and found her smiling warmly.

"I fine, Beck. In fact, I found it very… refreshing. It's been a long time since I've talked with a Program who's as passionate about something like you are. It's really sweet," she spoke gently, her voice soothing and enticing to Beck's ears.

"Really? I didn't take you for a… sentimental kind of person," he offered.

"You'd be surprised. Then again, you can't stop seeing me as the Commander of the Army can you?" she teased lightly.

"Sorry, I should stop trying to figure out what you're like until I get to know you more," Beck said slightly abashed. The smile she gave him was comforting.

"I'm flattered," she said once more in a low smooth voice.

"Want to play a game?" Beck suggested, looking over to the pool tables for emphasis.

"Sure," she answered as she followed Beck who had stood up and headed for the tables. Beck quickly set up one of the machines for a round, and grabbed two pool sticks. Paige gave him a curt thanks as he readied his shot to break the balls apart and began their game.

"So you're telling me you've made music before?" Beck asked shocked at Paige's reveal. They had talked through out the few games they had played and he had found it extremely comfortable to talk to the former medic. It was odd for him to think that not too long ago they were hashing it out on rooftops, in the sky, and working together to make it off an island.

"Yes, though my friends said I wasn't cut out for it, I held onto my Monome and play the songs I made to myself," Paige answered, smiling at his amazement.

"Wow, you really are a different Program than I thought you were. I'd love to hear what you made," the mechanic said as he walked around to the side of the table Paige was standing at, giving her a friendly nudge when she purposely stood her ground in the spot he needed to take his shot. She giggled as his hands pressed into her sides and firmly pushed her a step back.

"I'd love to. I think you'd like it. It's like the concert music," she said.

"Really? Now, I'm really curious," he replied as his shot hit but didn't score. His date moved closer as he stood up from his leaning position and found she was nearly pressing herself into him. He let out a small gasp as he locked eyes with her and stared into her dark maple irises.

"I'll make sure to bring it next time," she whispered as two of her fingers began walking up the bottom of his chest and stopping in the middle. Giving a teasing breath that Beck felt against his lips, she pushed him back with her two fingers and moved into position to hit the cue ball on the table. The mechanic was momentarily stunned at her antics and had to shake himself from his daze.

 _Wow… she really is something else_ He thought to himself reveling in the feel of the flirty and sparkling mood. It wasn't his first time being close to her, nor was it the first time either had flirted so… dangerously with the other but without the mask in the way Beck couldn't help but feel all of the heat in her words and actions.

A small pinch in his side brought him back to reality as he looked to see Paige smirking at him from her position leaning over the table. Without his intention or knowing, his eyes had found themselves inline with Paige's backside, and it was clear she noticed as her grin turned into a Cheshire smile.

"See something you like Mechanic?" she teased flirtatiously. Beck could feel his face heating up with embarrassment and turned his gaze upward.

"Sorry, I, um, it was an accident," he stuttered his excuse, which technically wasn't a lie.

"Uh huh," Paige sounded, clearly not convinced but not insulted either. Feeling she was taking control far too often, he braced himself and looked toward to her face before he spoke.

"But I do see something I like," he spoke earnestly, his voice compassionate yet firm. She turned back to him, caught off guard by his sudden passion, and felt her own slight blush warm her face as she found his gentle eyes on her own.

"Watch yourself, mechanic," she warned. Said Program raised his eyebrow in confusion. "If you keep acting so sweet, I might just snap," she half joked.

 _Sounds fun_ Beck mused as he neared closer until their hips were touching. Paige had yet to take her shot as she kept getting distracted and found her alignment ruined as her hip was tapped. She swiveled her head to see his hip before looking up and finding his playful eyes.

"See something you like, medic?" Beck taunted at her who had inadvertently just looked at his crotch.

"Keep dreaming," she shot back, taking aim on the cue ball for the fourth time. Right as she started to move her stick, she was nudged once again, this time more deliberate, and found her shot hitting the edge of her target, causing it to spin in place. She rounded on Beck with incredible speed and glared pointedly at him.

"You won't get far playing dirty," she growled. Their faces only inches apart, Beck could see she was genuinely angry at him for the nudge but only returned her hateful gaze with a charming smile, which apparently worked as she visibly cooled.

"Just helping you out, you were aiming for my ball," he smoothly stated, pointing to the ball she was, in fact, aiming at. Hearing a quick inhale of air, he saw Paige's frustration turn to embarrassment.

"How about I help you with the shot anyway," he smoothly added pointing toward the ball again. She simply raised an eyebrow and studied him.

"Pretend you're going to take the shot," he told her. She complied in resignation and leaned over the table she had previously been in, preparing the shot. Beck slowly leaned over and melded his body over hers, taking his right arm and crossing it over hers to grab the pool stick. He felt her body shiver from the contact and felt himself smile cheekily. Taking a moment to settle himself comfortably, he placed his left hand next to hers on the table and helped position the stick.

"You know, I can take the shot myself," she muttered, but sounded mirthful. A small deep chuckle escaped the mechanic as realized how easy it was to get lost with the flow that was created when he was with her, no doubt she was feeling the same.

"Oh, do you want me to step back?" he whispered into her left ear. Once again, he was rewarded with a shiver from her body.

"Just this once, I'll let you show me," she answered in a sultry tone. Continuing as planned, he took a few practice nudged of the pool stick, his date still secured and molded to the inside of his body as he did so.

 _How do I go from a panicking nervous wreck to this?_ He grinned at his thoughts. He knew his answer, of course, it was obvious. The former medic pressing herself into his chest and assaulting his senses with pleasure was half of it. The other half was himself. How they reacted to each other was so consuming and smooth. It was a conjunction they were still working with and exploring together, and as time went on it was becoming clearer how their relationship was… different. While complicated beyond either's realization yet incredibly heart warming and enlightening to new passion and emotions.

"Beck…?" she asked softly when he hadn't made a move.

"Sorry, just thinking," he reassured pleasantly before making to take his shot. He felt her hum against his chest as she confirmed his words.

When the sound of the ball being scored on emitted from the table top and the voice rang out as scoring a single zed, the mechanic stepped away from his date and gave a flashy smile. When she looked up to him, he found a impish aiming pair of brown orbs accompanied by a matching smirk. He watched as she stood straighter and slowly moved around him for her shot, feeling a small finger jab playfully into his side when she was behind him and causing him to let out a small yelp of surprise. Her intoxicating sweet laugh came to his ears as he turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. He was going to enjoy the evening, knowing he had forgotten for his initial worry.

Close to curfew, they were rounding down after their first two games the bar had thinned as it was becoming later in the evening. They had moved into the corner for more privacy but were the only ones left playing. The Programs left were at the bar at the opposite end of the establishment, too far to hear or bother the couple.

"So what made you write music?" Beck asked as he scored on his last ball.

"I don't really know," Paige answered lightly, momentarily pausing to think it over. "I just remember when I young I heard music coming from a building. It was…"

"Breath taking?" the mechanic supplied while looking directly at his date. She turned to him and he was soon lost in her brown maple eyes.

"…no, mesmerizing," she corrected, her voice airy and her gaze almost trance like.

"But…" she began, nearing Beck. "I did lose my breath," she whispered. It was hard for him to think as she neared him and the soft tickling wind of her breath beat against his lips. He hummed gently as he moved just a bit forward so that their lips were brushing against each other but they weren't officially locked together. Wanting to focusing on the feelings, he shut his eyes, knowing she had done the same, and concentrated on the smooth warmth of her smile.

"I hope I can take more than just your breath," he whispered, his lips soaking up the sensation of hers with hungry desire. A soft giggle escaped her partially open lips, and he could feel her smile become just the tiniest bit wider.

"Keep doing this, and you will," she breathed back. He let them stand like that for another small moment before he moved forward.

-disc memory-

This time the Doctor of Death wasn't crying, as she ended the memory. Their second date wasn't out of the ordinary, but it was still special in her heart. Seeing and hearing Beck's emotions throughout the date reassured her that everything to him was real. It wasn't some ruse thought up to be played out by Tron or him to help bring her farther down an already dark and foggy hole of lies and deception.

Propping herself up, she slid her legs off the bed and sat hunched over, starring hollowly at his disc. Would he approve of her actions? Not in the slightest. Thinking of her question she felt the two dueling emotions that usually associated the inquiry rise up to her heart, guilt and comfort. Guilt because she knew how Beck would feel if he knew she was out kill 'innocent' guards without reason. Comfort, because it released some of her anguish and fury when she did it. Most of the time she would just lessen the guilt by looking at the ugly reality. He was gone.

 _It doesn't mean you should kill, Paige!_ Came a voice that sound as if it was right behind her. Flipping around madly, she found no one. She looked back to the disc ignited in her hand, let out a heavy sigh, and turned off the heated spinning energy. It was happening more often, his voice would sound in her dreams, while she was on patrol, and when she was looking through the memories. Almost as if he was next to her looking over her and protecting her. It was maddening, yet calming. She wasn't alone, at least that's how she felt. If she was going crazy she didn't care, she had nothing left to live for, but at the same time, nothing to die for. Dying would only show her defeat, her giving up, and even while she was in the darkest of thoughts, she would not give up.

 _That's why I fell in love with you._ His haunting whisper lingered in the air.

* * *

Placing her disc back on her port, Paige turned back to look at the damage she just caused.

It was another one of her usual trips through Argon, where any patrols or soldiers she happened to cross paths with were derezzed. She often ran into multiple patrols and blockades, not by accident as she planned out her path accordingly. Her most recent encounter happened to be outside the coliseum.

Realizing she wasn't alone, she paused and turned around to face a trio of regular Programs. In the back of her mind she could tell they weren't just regular Programs. It was after curfew and they all had their helmets up hiding their faces. She prepared to attack, gripping her secondary disc harder while reaching for her own.

"Hey, isn't that the medic everyone's talking about?" one of them asked in a hushed tone, which Paige still heard.

"Yes, it is," the leader of the group answered, his voice was clearly on guard.

"Then that means…" the third one trailed off, the only one who was female.

"Paige," hearing her name come from one in charge made her freeze. Was her helmet down? How did they know it was her? Were the part of the Occupation?

"Who are you?" she asked in a dark tone. The middle Program looked around before he removed his mask. The older Program that greeted her eyes was not familiar.

"My name's Gavistan. We're part of the Defiance, or Uprising if that's what you still call it," Though he took of his visor as a show of good faith, the fact that he was part of Beck's Uprising did not help to ease the medic's nerves. She illustrated her feelings by showing them Beck's disc and igniting it.

"Wait! Wait! We're not here to fight! I just want to talk," he pleaded with his open palms facing toward her. There was tense stalemate as Paige thought over his words before placing Beck's disc back into the darkness of her cloak.

"Thanks," he sighed out while relaxing his body, while the Program to his left took of her helmet and took a few paces forward.

"I want Beck's disc back," the cyan haired girl nearly shouted. Gav was first to reach her and pull her back, before the other Program grabbed her other arm and the two held the fuming girl back. She protested against them while also throwing enraged threats at the green circuited woman.

 _Mara…_ She recognized the girl from the few meetings she had with her when Beck brought her to the club so she could meet his friends. It was always something she hated, because she couldn't offer the same to him.

"Mara, calm down!" the other Defiance member called out as he lowered his helmet to reveal his level cut brown hair.

 _Zed…_ she heard Beck's voice murmur in her head. Paige closed her eyes and let out a small growl of frustration.

"Paige, Tron's told me about you," Gavistan continued when Mara cooled enough for Zed to be able to handle her on his own. The medic simply waited for him to continue. "I know about you and Beck. I'm sorry you lost him, but you don't have to do this alone," he pleaded gently.

"I'm not fighting for him!" she yelled.

 _Lying to yourself? Paige…_

"Shut up!" she screamed to the sky, causing the others to freeze in place. "I don't need your joke of a defiance! I can handle them myself!"

"I wasn't talking about the Occupation," Gav spoke again in his softer tone.

"Paige!" Mara called out, this time just trying to get her attention. "You know us, it's me, Mara, and Zed," she started. "I-I'm sorry about yelling at you, but ever since we lost Beck it's been hard on us," the female mechanic expressed her sorrow and pain on her face. "You don't have to be alone. It's not your fault,"

"I know it's not my fault!" she barked, while lowering her helmet to glare openly at the mechanic. "It's their fault!" she pointed upward to the command ship that was high in the sky.

"So why are you doing this to yourself?" Mara asked gravely.

"Why do you care?"

"Because Beck cared about you," Paige's face went blank for a brief second as if the words themselves have robbed her emotion.

"Why shouldn't I?" Mara continued, bringing the medic's anger back.

"I'm…" memories of Beck flashed through her mind. "…a lost cause," she muttered to herself. The others kept their gazed held on her not having heard her answer and still waiting expectantly.

"Tell Tron I'm keeping Beck's disc," she growled loud enough for them to hear before twisting around and walking off.

"Pai-" Mara called only to stop when Zed put a hand on her shoulder.

"Mara, she'll be okay," he voiced, trying to reassure his girlfriend and himself.

"But…" she trailed as her words died in her throat. It was a hopeless situation. They couldn't force her to come with them, even if they tried she'd most likely derez them. As much as she wanted Beck's disc back, there was nothing they could do. Only Tron himself would be able to stop the medic.

Still praying for Paige, Mara started to catch up with Zed and Gav who continued the patrol. It was going to be the one thing Mara worried about for the rest of the kilo.

* * *

Paige ignored the chilling high airs of Argon blowing from the sea. She was too consumed in her mind to have her body react to the fridged air.

 _Beck…_

She looked down over the edge of the tall structure she was sitting on, below her lie part of the sea that branched inland. Both of her legs were dangling off the edge as she mindlessly moved them to bump against each other softly.

 _Beck_ …

The world around her always seemed to dissipate to nothing when she was on top of the bridge. Her favorite and only sanctuary of Argon, of the war. Sadly, even this sanctuary could not keep her pained memories of Beck away.

 _Beck…_

She had slammed her discs into the edges of the structure she was on, one on either side of her. She was quick to put Beck's disc out of her mind allowing her to peacefully, or at least attempt, not think of Beck.

 _I…_

The clouds were unusually low as they drifted near meters above Paige. Because of their placement Paige had to use the ladder to climb up to her spot as diving from a Light Copter would have been far to risky.

 _I…_

Her still fully charged parachute stuck to her back. It was light enough where it was barely noticed and form fitting enough to not cause discomfort.

 _I miss you…_

The medic glided the tips of her fingers against the palm of her right hand. Focusing on the small tingling it brought to her and letting her mind drift off into emptiness.

 _Paige._

Paige's head was now cleared of her empty fog she had carefully placed herself in. Whether it was a trick of her subconscious or she was starting to drift off into a sleep like state again she wasn't sure. She quickly grabbed her discs and stood up, staying next to the edge.

 _No, no, no! I can't be losing it, not yet!_

She held Beck's disc to her chest as the feelings of hollowness started to take over her core. Her mind started racing and her body felt as if it had grid bugs crawling over and under her skin. The sounds of her breaths drowned out the sounds of the winds as they quickened. Her mind was swarming with ideas and thoughts, all of them going too fast and too rapid for her to consciously focus on.

 _Paige, it's me, Beck!_

The whisper sounded as if it was mere centimeters from behind her head. Paige wurled around on reaction, panic filling her circulator. Her breathing becoming more ragged and shallow.

 _Am I really this weak? I'm hearing his voice. Just his voice and i'm losing the only sanity and calm I have left?_

The medic forced herself to take deep long breaths. This soothed her racing mind and quivering body to an extent. However, she now felt as if she had woken from a horrible nightmare, glad it was over but the thoughts still lingered in her over sensitive body and mind. These feelings were becoming familiar to her, so much so that she was finding it easier to cope with them. Whether it was a good thing she wasn't sure, but was to mentally exhausted to think about it.

After finding more peace, she stepped away from the edge and moved closer to the center of the tower. When she was satisfied with the distance from the ends of the building she laid down supine and let her discs lie by themselves next to her.

Her thoughts centered on her location as she tried to think back to the last time she was there.

 _Of course_ she thought in agitation. The last time she was there was with Beck on their third date. The killer doctor looked lazily over to Beck's disc at her left side and wondered if she should look at the memory. Why not? She had looked at all the other ones, what was different about this one?

The difference was the voice that was starting to stalk her like a ghost anytime she finished a memory. It didn't take a genius to look at the disc for the cause. Whether it was in her head or some strange manipulation on the disc's part it was too dangerous to keep going.

So instead of using either of the discs she possessed, she decided to replay the memory in her head.

-memory-

"It's incredible,"

She glanced back at him just in time to see him avert his gaze towards the city. The thought of what just happened sends a spark of joy through her recently pounding heart.

"When you said hang out, I thought you meant go to Argon Square or the club or you know… somewhere closer to the ground," Beck said as he casually sat on the edge of the large bridge tower. For any other Program it would have scared them to death to imagine sitting so high up.

"You don't like it?" Paige asked slightly astonished. The mechanic turned his head to her and smiled brilliantly. A smile filled with honest joy and ease.

"Oh! This is way more fun. I love it," he answered softly as he raised one leg so it was propped against the edge for his arm to rest against. The smile on Paige's face was the only image in his mind as he looked back towards Argon's blue haze of sharp lines.

"I had a feeling you would," Paige said with a confident joy in her voice. Though, he couldn't see it, her face was slightly strained as the problems of her work came back to her mind, as she followed his gaze over the distant city.

"This is where I come to be alone… when I need to think," she gently stated, her voice caring the weight of her stress in it.

"I know what you mean. It's good to get away from it all," he agreed lightly. "It's like you can see things from a fresh perspective," she peered over at him with a single eyebrow raised.

"Yeah... It's just like that," she whispered.

"I do something else though," he turned to look at her with a boyish smirk. Standing to his feet, Paige watched as her mechanic walked toward the center of the tower and laid down so his head was facing upward. It was late in the evening and the distance space above the Grid was becoming dark with little time. She followed after him and was standing over him in less than a minute. His eyes were open and focused on the nearly cloudless sky above.

"Lay down," he coaxed gently, flicking his eyes over to her and patting the floor next to him. Following his suggestion, she laid down next to him, only a foot lengths away from him. Before she could start gazing upward, she felt his arm wrap around her shoulders and pull her closer, into his side. The warmth of his body came rushing into her own and she could help but let out a small sigh of contentment as she felt the cold leaving her.

"Such a gentleman," she teased lightly as she rested her head against the floor, his arm now snaked between their bodies and holding her hand. She almost laughed when his fingers found her equally as frozen ones and interlaced together to form a frozen ball squished between to large heated masses.

"Anything for the lovely lady," he countered with a grin.

They stared up toward the empyreal night sky and were lost in the tiny sparkles of white lights sprinkles high above. The clouds left were diaphanous, adding a mystic sensation to the already tranquil mood.

Paige couldn't help but melt into Beck's body and started to fight her eyes and keeping them open. Not wanting to fall asleep and let the setting slip by, she thought of something to talk about.

"Have you ever wondered what those lights are?" She pondered softly.

"I've heard them called 'stars' before," he answered softly. "A friend of mine told me that Flynn made them, brought them over from the User world,"

"Did he say what they are?"

"No, his guess was that they were other worlds," he said in a laughing tone. "I'm sure he was joking,"

"What if he's right?"

"Who knows. How'd we get there? What's out there? Can Flynn go to those worlds?"

"I hope they're more peaceful than our Grid," she spoke sadly and felt his hand squeeze hers tighter. It was silent after that as neither really wanted to talk about the Renegade or the stressful city that was Argon.

"Who was your friend?" She asked perkily, happy to change the mood.

"Bodhi. He, uh, we were best friends," Beck answered in strain, as if it was physically hard to say the words.

"What's wrong? What happened?" The Commander asked softly, knowing the tone in his voice.

"When Tesler came, he was derezzed," he said solemnly. The words hit Paige like a baton to the gut, removing the air in her lungs.

"I- I'm sorry," she muttered unsurely. It had been a long time since was ever close to someone when they told them of a lost loved one.

"We were close. Can't tell you how many times we'd fight in disc battles. We were always pushing each other," the mechanic let out a humorless laugh. "Most of the time I'd win our competitions but that just made him try harder,"

"You're lucky," Paige whispered, almost inaudible. "I never had that,"

"Even when you were a medic?" He asked in his own frangible whisper.

"I- uh, had friends… but no one that close," she stammered sadly. The warmth of his hand grew as he tightened it with her own. She felt a small spark run up to her heart front the contact and felt oddly calmed by the small gesture.

"Well… what about me?" Beck asked, bringing the conversation to a happier atmosphere. His lighthearted words and usual casual demeanor was more than enough to help bring her from the lonely memories and brought a laugh with it.

"I don't really see you as a friend, Mechanic," she answered sweetly while rolling her head to rest against his chest, partially snuggling on him.

"Oh? What do you see me as, Medic?" Beck teased back, his breath tickling her hair as he spoke.

"You're a smart Program. Figure it out," she whispered as she turned her body over so her front was flush against him. While half of her body was on top of his she slide her left arm over his abdomen and slide her hand under his chest. The warmth she was after was soon flowing through her body as her heat source seemed to be frozen in shock by her sudden actions.

"I take it you're done stargazing," the mechanic chuckled almost nervously as his new cuddle companion made micro movements to be completely comfortable.

"Rather be warm," she sighed, further relaxing and melding to his body.

"Do I still have to answer your question?" he joked, the rumble sounding like the destructive force of a distant thunder to Paige. Not wanting to talk, she gave him a small laugh for his answer and resumed basking in his warmth, while the problems of Argon, her job, and the Renegade were swept away in the whispering wind. Luckily, he stayed silent as the message was received. It felt like millicycles for the two as they forgot their worries and slipped into a blissful ignorance of the Grid's issues and dilemmas.

"So when do I get to listen to your music?" Beck asked quietly, as if testing to see if she was awake.

"Next time," she answered cleanly.

"What's it like? Making music?" the Commander thought it over for a moment.

"Depends. Sometimes it can be addicting just playing simple notes. Other times you're just inspired… to make art," she said breathlessly.

"Can only imagine,"

"You don't have to. It's the same feeling when we helped those people on the train," she ushered.

"Really?" he asked almost in disbelief. Again, the two fell into a silence as he was clearly thinking something.

"Instead of saving a life, you're creating it," he vocalized his theory.

"That's, well… a different perspective," the orange circuited woman balked awkwardly. The two fell silent before bursting out into a fit of laughs and giggles.

"I guess it is. What do I know? Just a mechanic," was his jovial response.

"And I'm just a medic," was her immediate response before her error in wording dawned on her. Not missing a beat, her boyfriend had also caught her slip of tongue and squeezed the arm that was around her shoulders harder.

"You'll always be a medic, Paige. At least to me,"

-memory-

Beck's last words continued to ring in her head as she gazed out at the expansive night sky. Unlike her other delving of past events, this time she was unusually calm, stuck in some strange ambiance. She figured it to be because she wasn't using his identity disc to remember it and continued her random musings.

It was another cloudless night in Argon which granted a great view of the stars above. Paige allowed herself to enjoy the dancing lights in front of her for the first time. Unlike the stars on Earth, these stars dimmed and brightened irregularly, but only in slight ranges. Another difference from their origin copy was the fact that they didn't move through out the night and merely faded when the day cycle had started.

Only when her mind had become empty of thoughts had the cold air made its way into Paige's brain as she felt her it reaching her bones. Shivering and in a downtrodden mood, she made her way to the edge of the tower with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Her hands were tucked under her armpits as she peered down at the blackened water of the sea below her. The thought of swimming caused a large shiver to run through her body. Taking a quick breath, she jumped off the structure and opened her arms against their frozen will. She was gliding through the air for a short, but with the low temperature she was happy to be grounded and wrapping herself in her cloak.

 _Sleep… sounds nice…_ She thought heading back to her hideout.

* * *

AN: So it's clear I'm getting burnt on this story. I think my initial drive is completely drained so now I'm progressing much slower. I imagine 2-3 week updates, at least once a update will specifically be longer than the rest just because I rather leave off on a Beck and Paige moment than anything else while I get some more ground work on the story.

I hope you like how I'm progressing these two. Yes, Beck's still… not with us, but as the great Dr. Suess once said "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened" so remember the good times. It's hard to write about the two because I don't know how'd they'd act when intimate. At times I think they're both out of character but then I tell myself how we've never really seen them in this setting.

Thanks to Krisdaughter of Athena for helping me sort out this chapter. :)

I hope you enjoyed!

-Rose's Requiem


	13. A Hero's Identity (Ch 13)

A Hero's Identity

* * *

When he reentered his domain, Cyrus was breathing hard and fear was shooting through him along with horrific images of Tron. His last encounter with the hero Program had left him more mentally than physically beaten as he realized how much he underestimated his former mentor. The Program had never shown any signs of knowing how to fight with two discs nor had he made any mention of it. It angered Cyrus to know that he had been deceived. Ever since he was enlightened to the resetting the Grid his desire to know about his opponent before he faced them only grew in intensity. But he'd never been wrong when he finally confronted an enemy.

He clenched his fists as he looked up at the large device which was still broken beyond anything that looked to be function. It was tiring to constantly run between the Outlands and Argon, but it was necessary to keep track of both the Defiance and the Occupation.

Letting the anger consume his thoughts, the dark skinned man kicked wildly at a nearby part. The large cylindrical coil was launched toward the wall and exploded into thousands of shrapnel and sparked on its journey across the walls of the room.

 _I will make you acknowledge me, Tron._

* * *

"What?!" Tron exclaimed in his room as Mara and Gav informed him of their first journey to the coliseum.

"Clu rebuilding the Super Recognizer is not good," he pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, the added stress causing his the back of his eyes to build in pain. The other two were also visibly distraught as they thought about the situation.

"We have no choice, we have to do destroy it," Gav announced.

"How?" the mechanic in the room asked.

"It'll require all of the Defiance," Tron started, his hand now stroking his chin in a cliché thinking pose. "All we need to do is set up bombs at every twenty levels of the legs and a core bomb at the center. That should be enough to destroy it," he informed them, clearly having already thought ahead.

"How do we get in there?" Mara asked.

"That's going to be the hard part," the Program answered while pulling up schematics on his identity disc. "When we downed it the first time I took a few scans of it while the Renegade rallied you all. The legs have long ignition energy coils that hold a volatile form of energy, unlike regular Recognizers that have a more refined source of power. Every twenty-five levels there is a cut off where the energy is channeled through different regulators and circulators. This is why we need to set up multiple bombs," Tron explained while he demonstrated on the mini diagram of the massive Recognizer.

The other two stayed silent as he went on. "It's heavily guarded, and will most likely have twice the amount of soldiers as it did with Clu here. Along the sides of the legs are small emergency exits incase of a meltdown. The rest of you will have to enter through these exits while I place the main explosive at the top in the control room,"

"That doesn't sound too bad," Gav said with boosted confidence. His leader only raised an eyebrow at him, giving him a skeptical look. "Well I think it's better sounding than our first raid," he explained a little sheepish from the look he was getting.

"This will be anything but easy, Gavistan. We'll be going in with little to no reconnaissance," Tron rebutted firmly.

"Can't we go now? What we do know is that there aren't that many guards, most of the Programs out there are engineers and mechanics," Gav responded without flinching at Tron's usual cold and commanding tone.

"We can't, the explosion would be too large and will harm Programs within the area,"

"They have it quarantined for a few kilometers around the ship!" Gav exclaimed as he imagined the explosion's relative destruction radius.

"The legs themselves could power Purgos for a few cycles. The fact that Clu and Dyson managed to keep the ship under the radar was one thing, the fact that they kept the power it needed from the general public is something far greater. It goes to show how Clu can predict and keep his true agendas from those around him," Tron said with a slight bitter tone.

"Especially his betrayal…" Mara muttered to herself.

"As I said, the explosion itself would be too devastating to the area if we destroyed the Recognizer on the ground. We'll have to destroy it far from any civilization to keep casualties to a minimum. We have two options, either we can hijack it and fly it over the ocean ourselves or wait until they decide to fly to a more secure and fortified city to complete repairs,"

"I like our first choice the most," Gav proclaimed.

"I figured you would. Then it's settled for now. Head back to the others, I'll work out the details," Tron said with finality, but before the two could leave he spoke again.

"Gav, if you could wait a moment," he asked as he sat down behind the table. Gav stopped and turned back to the older Program as Mara continued to move out of the room and earshot.

"What's up?" he asked.

"There's something I should tell you about. About the Renegades I've trained," Tron said with an heavy tone. Gav was surprised to learn about there being more than one Renegade, and seated himself across the table as he waited eagerly for Tron to continue.

"Before Beck I had another Renegade named Cyrus. I had to imprison him when he started acting without my authority. He got free, and has been trying to get revenge on me since,"

"Did you tell Beck about him?"

"No. In fact, it was Beck who freed him, not on purpose, though,"

"Where is he now?"

"I wish I knew. He confronted me in the coliseum. He makes it obvious that he watches us, finds us _predictable_ , yet he's still sloppy. I fought him off, but I couldn't derez him. If you cross paths with him, run. Run as fast as you can," Tron warned seriously.

"What happened to him? How come you made him a Renegade in the first place?" Gav ignored the dire tone and continued his inquiry.

"I had no choice. He saved me from Clu's repurposing and helped me build this place. I need his help, back then I was too weak from my wounds.

"At first he wasn't so extreme, but I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before his inhibitions took over. I thought I could stop him, but he had grown too powerful. Thankfully I had Able to help me. He constructed a trapdoor, a oneway entrance to another dimension within the Grid,"

"So he's just a crazy Program?"

"It'd be so much simpler if he was, he's more than just 'crazy'. He's determined enough to see his plans through to the end... When he rescued me from Clu, he thought I was fighting to _cleanse_ the Grid,"

"Cleanse it of what?" Gav asked confused.

"Of everything," Tron answered in baritone. "His version of saving the Grid is destroying it and letting it reset,"

"He acts like the Grid is infected with a virus!" the soldier exclaimed, setting his fists on the table.

"I know… Do you remember Abraxas?"

"The only virus who managed to get into the system? Course,"

"I can't prove it, but I think he was partially infected by him,"

"How do you figure?"

"The arrival of Abraxas, Cyrus's appearance, and Radia's integration as co-Administrator were not by chance. What I've gathered over the time of my exile is that Clu somehow manufactured Abraxas. He already has the abilities to repurpose Programs and their coding, no doubt he found other manipulations. Cyrus himself was one of Clu's first repurposed Monitors, what he's told me is that he kept his consciousness through the reprogramming and was able to defy the new coding," Gav remained silent as Tron gathered his thoughts again.

"My theory is that Cyrus had exposure to the Abraxas virus before he was sent to be reprogrammed and that's what kept him through the repurposing. If Clu made Abraxas as I suspect he did, then the coding must be similar to the repurposing process. I think the machine saw the virus and figured Cyrus was already a repurposed sentry,"

"Why hasn't he show any evidence of being infected then?"

"I'm not sure. My theory is weak at best, but what I can think of now is that the repurposing did somehow stop his coding from becoming fully infected,"

"So if what you're telling me is right, then we could possibly undo the repurposing?" Gav offered in hope.

"You're thinking that Clu's reprogramming is just a form of a virus? Sadly, I don't think that's the case. I fought off Programs infected by Abraxas, they don't act anything like Black Guards or sentries. Whatever the processes is, it's irreversible," Tron stated solemnly. Gav sighed and slumped back against the chair in disappointment. The idea, the hope, that came with the possibility of reverting Clu's army against him and ending the war was right there, only to be instantly crushed.

"How do we stop him?" Gav asked while he rubbed his right temple.

"I'm not sure. All I know is that he's holding off until he can get me alone. He's obsessed with my approval. He wants me to acknowledge that I'm weaker than him, but even he knows that he can't go against all of the Defiance," the Child Basic answered.

"We don't have to think about him. We have to focus on the Super Recognizer. Keep training with the others, I want to make sure you can handle battles with three sides,"

"Tron, it's me we're talking about, I can handle it,"

"Gav, I know you've had experience but you may come into a situation where you have two opponents who aren't working together. It's very different from simply having two attacking you together. I need to make sure you are properly trained," Tron spoke with serious darkness.

"Why? We still have you as our leader, with you here-"

"Anything can happen!" Tron cut him off sharply. Gav opened his mouth to retort but the words died in his throat as he thought better of it. He wondered how anxious the great hero had become ever since the loss of his Renegade, of his friend.

"If I'm lost it'll be up to you three to lead this Defiance," Tron stated again, his eyes piercing into Gav's with a mixture of sorrow, acceptance, and determination. Yet again, the younger went to make a comical rebuttal but refrained from his casual manner. Instead, he gave a curt nod with his own combination of emotions shining in his eyes.

* * *

"Keep moving,"

"But I didn't do anything wrong!" the citizen cried back at the hooded sentry who gave no indication of caring.

"Keep moving, Program," the sentry reiterated with force. The Program and others around him in Light Cuffs, saw the glowing end of the baton as it flared with energy. Quickly shutting up, the arrested Program continued forward into the shipping container onboard a Light Train.

Dyson watched from a nearby ledge. His hands clasped together behind his back as he stood tall and ridged above everyone with a lopsided grin. It was one thing he felt that changed about him when he was fixed by Clu. No longer feeling the need to protect those who were weaker than him but instead reaping pleasure from their misfortune. If they were to weak to fight for themselves then why should they be happy?

 _Weak._ Dyson thought as he glared individually at the last of the Programs being rounded up for transport back to Tron City.

"Sir, all Programs in the previous sector have been detained," A Black Guard spoke from behind him. Without turning he answered.

"Good. Prepare to move to the next,"

"Right away," the guard left without another word, or thought.

They had initiated with sending the Programs at the final set of Games off to Tron City and followed by hitting the lower sections of the Purgos where no one would be missed and most of the Programs there and no one to go to for help. It was the best way to hold off the Defiance, from their trail.

Looking at it now it made sense to Dyson what Clu's plans were. While Dyson would have preferred to start in the most populated area of Argon and try to be as efficient as possible, the Defiance would come to stop their plan almost immediately. Clu's strategy was to stay under the radar, as always, but in the long term it would most likely be more effective time wise. Along with the diversion of the Super Recognizer.

He couldn't help his smile as he felt reassure of picking the right person to follow. Clu was everything he strived to be. Something greater than he already was. Someone who could oppose Tron. Someone who had the power to fix the wrong in the Grid.

 _Your move Tron._

* * *

After a few millis the Defiance had finished their daily training and were seated in the main room of the hideout patiently waiting for the briefing of the mission they were about to embark on.

"It's time to prepare for our next assault," Tron called out to the gathered Programs in the main lobby of the hideout.

"As most of you are aware, the Renegade brought down Clu's Super Recognizer a while back. It's the cycle the Uprising finally grew past just an idea. What you didn't know, is that the machine is being operated on and fixed. Our objective," he paused and looked back at the holoscreen, bringing up an enlarged model of the Super Recognzier. "Is to destroy it once and for all,"

"While our information is scarce, our time is even more so. From what I could gather, the ship itself looks almost complete. I'm guessing we only have one, maybe two cycles until it's back online. That means we have that same amount of time to prepare for our strike,"

"My best guess is that the ship will fly back to a safe location beyond Argon, or, more likely, Tesler's command ship to rearm and replenish the ship's energy and soldier base. This will be our best time to attack. Before the Recognizer can be restored, we will hijack it, fly it away from the city and blow it up over the Outlands, safe from any innocent Programs,"

"Renegade, why don't we just blow it up next to Tesler's ship and take out both?"

"If we did that then we'd also be destroying a large section of Argon. The combined forces of the explosions would break apart the cliffside causing it to break the city around it, not to mention the amount of debris and shrapnel there would be,"

"I will pilot the Recognizer while the rest of you set up the bombs along the legs. You will be split up into groups of four or five, each taking on a different level of a leg. Once you have set up the explosives you will make it to the nearest emergency exit and retreat to safety. This will be the dangerous part of the mission. No doubt Clu's forces will follow and try to stop the ship. Do not engage these forces unless absolutely necessary, the explosion should be more than enough to deal with the pursuing vehicles,"

"What about you?" Mara asked.

"Part of the plan is to fly the ship to a high elevation. Once I've set up my own bomb and made sure everyone is safely away, I'll lock the controls at the altitude and jump,"

"This operation is simpler than the first, but it's far more dangerous. Clu will know what we're doing and he'll try to stop us at any means. Stick with your group, when you bail from the ship make sure to keep a distance from other groups. The best thing you can do is spread Clu's forces out and coordinate with your team to take out who's following you,"

"So, use teamwork but don't use teamwork," Zed joked as he propped his head against his closed fist.

"To put it simply, yes. Any questions?"

"What if they destroy the ship while we're still on it?"

"They won't. Not while I'm on," there was an heavy pause as they Defiance waited for him to continue and explain what he meant. Deliberately slow, the white suited Program pulled his helmet back to reveal his face. The three who knew of his identity looked to each other for any explanation but seeing the genuine shock on the others' faces made them turn back to Tron.

"Tron…" Pearl muttered softly, the sound passing through the deafly silent room and vocalizing most of the Programs' thoughts.

"I think it's time you know the truth," he announced. "I'm not dead. And the fact that I'm not one of Clu's reprogrammed General's is the reason he's here. He's come here to repurpose me. I don't know why he's so determined to see me repurposed but I can tell you he'll stop at nothing to get me.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you all sooner, but I had to make sure I could trust you. This Defiance is all we have to stop him, I couldn't risk jeopardizing it. This next mission will have losses. There always are in war. Just like there are victories, there are setbacks as well…" Tron faltered as he remembered his first training session with Beck.

"What about the Renegade?" Dash distraughtly called out. He was clearly taking the reveal in a bad way as a handful of others were also on the same wavelength.

"The Renegade…" he started but glanced at Mara and Zed briefly. His eyes were questioning as if he was asking for permission to tell them. Zed was first to get the meaning of his look and nodded softly.

"The Renegade was a mechanic. His name was Beck…"

* * *

"Tron!" Zed called out after the meeting and the people who were sent for recon had resigned to get what little rest they could.

"Zed, if you're here to talk about me revealing my identity-"

"No! That's not why I need to talk to you," Zed spoke urgently. "I made a device for a Light Cycle that was supposed to help catch the Renegade," Tron raised an eyebrow and gave the mechanic a questioning look.

"It's, well. I don't have time to explain that but we can use it! I can remake it and attach it to our Baton Jets," he continued.

"What does the device do?"

"It locks onto a Light Ribbon and sends a pulse to the ship, or bike, or whatever is making the ribbon and overloads the engine," Zed explained. Tron stroked his chin at the thought of it.

"How long would it take you to rebuild?"

"Probably a millicycle at the most, if I get a few of the other mechanics to help me we should be able to attach one to all of our batons," Zed answered in his hurried tone.

"Are there any negatives or side-effects with it?"

"No. It takes a bit of power and time to charge up but it uses most of the energy in the Light Ribbon to overload the engine. I haven't actually used it besides the one time I made it but it should work," there was a small pause between them as Tron thought over the idea. It didn't take long for him to come to a decision.

"Do it. Take who you need and start setting it up. If this works out then this mission won't have any casualties," Tron ordered. Zed raised his fist to his chest and gave a quiet victory to himself, before running off toward the holo room.

* * *

It was different for the Doctor of Death to be sneaking around, especially on her hands and knees, but knowing her current target, she figured the only way to get him was with stealth. Crawling through the secret passage ways and ventilation systems of the command ship she was all to familiar with, she was making her way towards her old room onboard the vessel. The dark red utility lights overcast the hue of her green circuits and engulfed the small square tunnels in alarm lightening and ambiance. To say it was unnerving was an understatement. Luckily, she wouldn't be in the cramped space for much longer.

Breaking a grate and landing in the room below her with a not so quiet roll, she quickly went to the door of her old room and prepared to ambush anyone who may have heard the metal crash. After a few moments of bated breaths, she chanced opening the door and peered into the hall. She was happy to find that no one was patrolling and started to make her way through the tall skinny tunnels towards Pavel's room. It wasn't far from her own and after waiting for one squad of Black Guards to pass the main hallway she had ducked into the hallway that Pavel's room was connected to. When she reached his door she didn't want to waste any time and sliced at the edge of it. She immediately slammed into it with her body and with no resistance was in her old acquaintance's room. Only to be confused at what she saw. In front of her was a room as barren as her own. She made a quick sweep of the room and all the storage areas to find that the place truly was as barren as it appeared to be. Making haste, she headed back out into the hall and headed toward Tesler's quarters.

Tesler's room was much larger than her own and was closer to the bridge of the ship. Doing her best to keep to the shadows and avoid patrols was slowing her down, but with trained practice she stayed vigilant in keeping a low profile. After what seemed like long agonizing millis, she was finally one hallway away from the room. Sadly, her destination was guarded by four guards. She took a step back to figure out a strategy other than killing the guards and risking exposure, when she heard the sound of a door opening down the hall. Taking a peek, she saw Pavel's smudge, egotistical person stepping out of the room before heading toward the bridge, the four guards following close behind.

In the brief moment it all clicked for Paige. Tesler was dead and the slimy commander had been promoted to General. Letting the disgust pass of Pavel's new position pass, she double checked her corners before dashing to the room. This time she checked to see if it was locked. She was rewarded with a quick whooshing of the door as they retracted into the walls. She quickly entered and went to work searching the room for anything valuable, not prepared to find anything. While in her raid of the closet she stumbled upon a small box. Opening it, she couldn't help the shock of what was before her flow through her and onto her face.

 _The weapon…_ She thought, picking up the small red and white translucent disc mod. The very same mod that the scientist Shaw brought with him to show to Tesler only to be intercepted and killed by the Renegade. The disc modification had somehow ended up in Pavel's hand but he had turned it over to Tesler soon after Paige's warning of blowing his secret. Apparently, the late General never got around to using it and the weapon ended back up with Pavel.

She picked it up and stared at the intricate patterns and pulses traveling through the small disc.

 _Be careful, it's more dangerous than you know_. Beck's voice whispered into her ear. She let out a sigh and lifted the disc she held in her off hand to her eye level. She glared at it with annoyance as if she was looking at Beck and her look would silence him.

 _You were more dangerous that I knew, Renegade_. She mused mockingly, before returning her gaze on the disc mod in her right hand.

 _Don't let the power and anger control you_. Came another ominous warning. Ignoring his words, the medic took out her disc and combined Shaw's mod to it. Placing the disc back on her dock she felt the surge of energy course through the center of her body to her head and all the way down to her toes. It was intoxicating and invigorating to say the least. She quickly looked around to see if there was an area where she could truly feel the effects of the mod when she remembered Tesler's meditation/sleep room. In a flash she had found the door and made her way to the center of the large circular area.

In the back of her mind she could feel the tingling of something new wanting to be unleashed and let rampant. It tickled and prodded her thoughts, making her all the more eager to stretch her arms and legs. Ripping her disc from the dock she performed a series of light attacks with a blur of movement. Her empowered legerity caused the lights from the discs to appear like lightening. Some of her disc punches were so quick that at times the disc didn't appear to move from her side or from in front of her. Continuing to flip, roll, swing, toss, and stab with and around her discs, she was basking in the pleasure of having so much control and power. Like a green haze, she moved about the dimly lit room with precise and accurate speed.

When she felt she had her fun, she slowed to a stop, breathing hard from the exertion of her exercise. She could now feel the tingling in the back of her mind again, telling her to continue, fight, and destroy. She quickly realized that this was what Beck's warning was talking about. Feeling the grin form of her face she gloated to herself as she squashed the feeling in the back of her mind. It used anger, something Paige was all too familiar with and far too disciplined to let a small tickle control her.

 _You worry too much, Mechanic._ She thought gleefully.

* * *

Unknown to the Doctor was the giant Recognizer high above Argon making its way to the command ship. Escorted by a few thousand smaller Recognizers, Light Copters, and other airborne vehicles, the behemoth machine dominated the dark digital sky with terrorizing realism. And while the ship headed closer to the unsuspecting Paige, the Defiance also moved in the shadows of the Outlands, closing in on the meeting point. Prepared to destroy the great machine once and for all.

* * *

AN: So a little backstory for Cyrus. Just my crazy thinking to how he is. This was my hardest chapter, and I'm not sure why. It really isn't anything special.

So Star Wars recently came out, and that sort of distracted me. I liked it. Though, my thoughts align more with Max Landis, I thought it was good. And I learned of a new term for characters. Mary Sue, the term where one character, usually just beginning or is inexperienced, can beat everything in front of her, or him, and never losses. I'm sort of feeling that way with Paige. But is her journey more of a emotional and personal one and does Mary Sue apply to mental wars? I wonder.

What'd you guys think of Star Wars?

I hope you enjoyed it, and my mediocre update.

-Rose's Requiem


	14. Fall of the Giant (Ch 14)

Fall of the Giant

* * *

Flying low but with great speed, the majority of the Defiance moved in a tightly nit group of Baton Jets. In a large array of circuit colors, the nerves of the Programs were hardened and prepared to deal another blow to the Occupation. Mara and Zed flew close together, trailing behind Tron and Gav who lead. The rest of the Defiance followed them and kept to their groups for their operation.

"We're coming up on it now! Spread out and prepare to ascend," Gav shouted back to the others.

Doing as ordered, the Programs separated into their groups of four. Off in the distance, their target was growing in relative size, it's sickly yellow glow standing out against the orange of the command ship that stood upon the cliff face. With one raised hand and flick of the fingers from Gav the groups flew in a coordinated path to their assault points.

As the members got close, they derezzed their jet's and latched onto the corners and edges covered on the legs with vice grips. While all of them wore Light Chutes and the Recognizer had landed, it was still tall enough for it to be an awkward fall for most of the Defiance, too short for a chute to be pulled in time to make a safe landing, and high enough for the distance to be fatal. Taking slow cautious movements with coordination from their group, the Defiance made their way onto the ledges of the emergency exits and with the use of Bodhi's Recoder made their way in. In front of the Programs was a long enormous black structure surrounded by transparent platforms that had a small bridge connecting them to the non-engine areas of the ship.

Mara's group having been on of the first one able to enter immediately ran toward the center structure. Taking down the guards and engineers that were present, she instantly ran to the door that lead to the other area of the ship and locked the door. Taking a quick glance through the small square window to double check no one had seen or heard their approach, she went back to the other three who were already quick at work setting up the Light Bombs. Attached to the center structure that held the energy fuel, the Programs waited for the bomb to signify that it had been connected wirelessly to the core explosive.

* * *

High on top of the giant was where Tron had landed and entered it. Reusing the same hatch Beck had used to save him from the repurposing, he was retracing the corridors he had not to long ago been forced to walk through. Dispatching guards that crossed his path and hiding from others, he found his way to the outside of the bridge. He peered through the small window frame and counted his targets before entering the room. At once, his presence was alerted to and the many Black Guards inside were upon him, only to be beaten away with a single fluid motion.

With ease, the hero had control of the command room but failed to stop the engineers and pilots to set off the alarm. He didn't care, as it was part of the plan, but locked down the entranceways at the bottom of the legs. Shrugging of the large sack he brought in with him, he removed the black cloth and revealed the boxy shaped bomb. Quickly, he moved it into position in the center of the room and the next nano setting up its countdown sequence. A large silver cylinder that extended out of the center of the bomb lit up with bright white circuit lines. In the center it showed one fraction of a circle lit up. His eyes crunched together in confusion, as he hadn't expected anyone to be set up before him. He waited a moment to see if more sections would light up and sure enough, another one blinked on, relieving him of the possible malfunction.

Flipping around, he darted to the controls and began preparations to launch the ship. Making a quick double check he had turned off all ground settings, locked mechanisms, and activated all cooling and regulation systems, he ignited the engines. There wasn't much noise for him, considering how high up he was, and the small vibration that circulated to him was less powerful than he expected from the massive engines. He through the notions away and turned back to piloting away from the command ship.

* * *

When the light on the top of their bomb had turned on, Mara and company were soon on their way to the exit they had just entered. Glancing back at the bomb and then the door, she nodded with a smirk hidden by her mask, and exited behind her team. She stopped them before they could jump off and rez their jets. The cyan haired Mechanic informed them that she wanted to wait for other teams to make their way off the ship before they left. It wasn't long before a few groups could be seen as small little sprites flying away from the recognizer and Mara's group was flying through the air keeping a reason distance.

It wasn't long before shots were whizzing by their ships and the fight had begun. Breaking apart from her team, Mara shot downward before turning back to engage her pursuer. Instead of seeing her target, she was once again being shot at from behind and forced to roll to hopefully break their lock. Fighting her dark vision and forcing herself to manage the G-forces, she broke her roll when the shooting stopped. Taking a chance to look back she reactively snapped her gaze forward when the sound of another jet flying dangerously close overhead startled her already frantically beating circulator. The next nano she heard the explosion of a jet exploding and looked back to see to the ship that was following her had crashed into another Occupation pilot. Thanking the mechanic that was flying parallel to her, she turned and helped her other members being chased.

* * *

Tron had turned off the blaring of the alarms after it had taken its tole on his ears and was making his way to the door before it was bust open from the other side. Planting a motion grenade, he stepped back and waited for the show. Having planted the bomb precisely on time so they would activate their sensors the moment after the doors came down, he glad to see them explode just after the fourth guard and rushed in. Throwing his disc into the center of the doorway, he dispatched the rest of the guards easily before setting up more motion grenades.

He made leave of the bridge with intentions of stopping the guards before they ever reached the bomb. Taking out those guards as if nothing but a single grid bug, he found himself in the storage area beneath the bridge at the belly of the Super Recognizer. Face to face with what looked to be about 30 plus guards, he readied himself for a worthwhile fight, and something to finally stretch his combat abilities. He hoped anyway.

* * *

Across the massive open storage stood the hero of the Grid. Standing tall after just knocking out another guard, he looked around to readjust his surrounding awareness when his visor focused on her. She tilted her head down in the subtlest form of a glower. He made no reaction to it, but started walking over to her.

Again, the Weapon called out to its owner, urging her to fight, to get revenge for her lost love. Bringing up flashbacks of Beck's pained expressions and fabricating new horrors dealing with Tron, it worked a new way to try to get its master to use it to its fullest potential. While Paige found its persistence admiring, she still managed the fuel and rage that the Weapon was giving out. She couldn't help but smirk at how the Weapon acted, as if it was alive.

Quickly snuffing out the Weapon's callings, the Doctor concentrated back at the white armored Program that had closed the distantly greatly. He looked the way he always did: authoritative, fearless, and somehow filled with energy. She kept her usual stance with her cloak wrapping around her body, concealing it and Beck's disc.

"Paige," Tron spoke when he had finally crossed the oversized storage area.

"Tron," she answered curtly.

"What are you doing here?" He asked with the tone that clarified that he hadn't expected her presence.

"I was paying Pavel a visit," the medic replied darkly. Of course he had run off when the Recognizer had been hijacked, one more thing Paige had become irritated about.

"Did you manage to speak with your old acquaintance?" Tron inquired.

"No. He ran when your Defiance showed up," Her anger rising up simply having to communicate with once great Program.

"I see," there was a brief silence as the two prepared their words.

"Paige, about Beck-"

"What?! What about him? What could you possibly have to say?!" She exploded. Her own natural anger flowing coursing through her mind and body.

"There isn't anything I can say," Tron muttered in defeat. "I can't bring him back, and I can't let him go,"

"Is that really all you care about? Yourself?!" She barked.

"No! I care about Beck! This all happened because of me. I should have never let him become the Renegade. If I had-"

"Done what. Been there? Stopped him? The Occupation would have taken control and he would still be out there, fighting for us," Paige countered.

"You were his best chance," she continued after a pause. "He looked up to you and he pushed himself past his limit, just so he could prove himself to his _hero_. But you just told him of his shortcomings. You never gave him the praise, the friendship, he wanted! He needed!" She ranted, her helmet collapsing to reveal her furious face.

"I did that for the System! He needed to be pushed. He was the only hope for the System,"

"No! You were too focused on your failure to see that he wasn't ready! He was going to save the Grid but you needed to shove all your pain and regret onto him..." She trailed off in mental exhaustion. Users she was tired of it. So weary of being alone without him. He was the last _real_ light in her darkening world and he was... She had...

"Please, I know you're grieving just as much. Give me his disc, I know where we can put him to rest," Tron pleaded.

"No," was her stern, soft answer.

"Paige,"

"No," she reissued a little louder, a little harder.

"Plea-" Tron was cut off when he was forced to roll out of the way of the disc thrown at him. Paige regenerated her helmet before Beck's disc returned to her. She lowered herself into a battle stance as she prepared to assault her for in front of her, most likely her most fierce-some one yet.

The anger had overlaid and removed her exhaustion. She felt her body fused with energy from the Weapon as her mind concentrated on the task at hand. Moving faster than energy bolt, she was upon Tron and slashing away at his strong defense. His disc managed to keep up with hers, but she kept the pressure on not allowing for any chance to counter. Taking a quickstep to his back, she had flashed to his exposed side only to miss her lunges as he rolled forward. Even with her new speed, she struggled against his experienced training.

Throwing Beck's disc, she charged as he flipped and twirled through the air to dodge it. When he had landed she had pressed her disc against his as he held it close to his chest managing to block her blow. Her eyes narrowed as pressed forward waiting for her other disc to return. Without warning, he snapped his head back and Beck's disc flew into Paige's open hand. She moved it the few centimeters to his neck and hovered it next to his exposed area.

"You've lost," Paige growled.

"Don't be too confident," Tron replied flatly before he started flipping backwards. With one of his feet pressing against her stomach as he back rolled, he caused her to lose her close advantage and launched her backwards. She controlled her flight through the air and landed on her feet and slid back as the momentum exited her.

When she managed to look up, she was forced to raise her hands as she blocked the booted foot aiming for her head. She ignited her discs she was still holding and crossed the discs to cut off the imposing ligament. She took the freedom to stand and ready for another fight. Tron was still landing his foot on the ground when she saw him falter on his landing. She glanced at his ankle and saw the barest of exposed, glowing blue coding at the back. Her lips quirked up in lopsided grin at the damage.

Advancing again, they continued brawling. The dancing colors of green and black against blue and white clashed against each other. While the lightening flashes of green and white kept on as the massive ship they were aboard continued its climb up into the expansive black sky. Most of the fight, the green managed to stay on offense and land a few grazing hits but never crippled, while the white was using all of its power to stay alive.

The pair stopped when the ship rocked violently and made the two fall to the floor. Their fight put on hold; the two neared the glass wall that showed the outside sky. In front of their eyes was a mass of red and orange-circuited ships, hovering in the air.

"Tron!" Came the familiar voice over a speaker, the strength of the amplification enough to shake the thick glass of the Recognizer.

"Clu..." Paige muttered darkly, she noticed Tron's helmet flick in her direction for a micro before turning back to the main ship leading the army.

"Surrender! It's time to join me and help free the Grid!" Clu announced.

"Do you have a Baton Jet?" Tron suddenly asked her.

"No, why?" She asked tentatively. Instead of relieving an answer, she was handed a baton.

"Take mine and go," he commanded before walking back to the door he had entered.

"Don't order me around," she growled as the lights on the baton changed from white to green.

"Fine. There should be an exit up at the command deck, jump from there. Make sure you don't break the baton until you're under the clouds," he told her as she followed close behind him. The rest of their walk was wordless and Paige couldn't help but find it funny how the last twenty micros had gone. From the spontaneous meeting, brief arguing, full out fighting, and then making a truce now that a bigger threat was present.

Upon reaching the bridge, she saw the garbage can sized bomb sitting in the middle of the room. She walked over and inspected it while Tron checked on the controls. It appeared to be armed but only activated by a trigger or remote, something she figured Tron was in possession of. Looking around she found the interior of the bridge to be just as overbuilt and spacious as the storage compartment they were previously in.

"Paige, you don't have time to take in the view, hurry and go," Tron said irritably, catching the medic's attention. Giving him a glare which he wasn't able to see as he made adjustments on the controls, she started to head to the emergency exit that was near the entrance they had walked through.

"What happens after this? We just go back to our own ways of cooping?" Paige asked rhetorically, passing a glare to him.

"No, we need to talk, but now isn't the time," he answered quickly. "Go! We're out of time!"

She hesitated a moment with her hand against the edge of the wall as she gave Tron one last look. Giving him a mental 'good luck' she rushed out of the emergency exit and was plummeting downward. She adjusted herself to look backwards and kept her eyes on the Super Recognizer being followed by the mass of red Occupation ships.

The fall was peaceful, far too cold for her liking, but nice. The loud rushing of air past her body and ears consumed all other noise and allowed her mind to go blank, along with the pull of gravity. Being weightless had always brought some clarity to her life. A time in which nothing but the nature pulling force of gravity was all she had to focus on. No work, no Renegade, no ISOs, nothing except the time to pull her chute.

Her cloak flapped madly against her legs, which she couldn't hear, as her vision was engulfed by the gray. Turning her body over in the clouds, she faced the ground and waited. In the brief nanos her eyes could see nothing but gray, her ears heard nothing but a loud rustling, and her body felt weightless, everything seemed at peace. It was just her in her own world, a world without pain, anger, or regret. For those few short moments lost in the clouds, there was no Beck. But with one large unheard breath she was out of the twilight of clouds and back in the Grid.

Her mind instantly snapped to reality. With the baton no longer on her leg and secured tightly in her hand she cracked it open and moved her body into position. The parts formed around her in glowing green wireframes before becoming whole and being real physical forms of matter. The next moment she was heading back toward Argon, a half a kilometer above the ground. She peered up to see a string of red ships ascending into the clouds, no doubt following for reinforcements for Clu. She turned her body forward, but just before she was about to engage the throttle there was a large flash that illuminated the world around her. Swiveling her body on reaction, she looked up to the sky just in time to feel more than hear the massive wave of sound from an explosion vibrate through her body and jet. She waited a moment for something, anything to happen. One lone ship fell through the strong barrier of clouds, smoking and rotating madly out of control. Followed by two more, then another, then debris from other large ships, until the clouds all but disappeared under a shower of black metallic shards and fragments. Her eyes followed the sight until all of the wreckage had fallen into the Outlands.

When she was sure the show had stopped, Paige turned toward the city once more and powered the engines to their maximum strength.

 _I wonder if Clu was caught in that explosion…_

* * *

Tron watched Paige out of the corner of his gaze and darted to the bomb the second he saw her leave the Super Recognizer. Punching the code into the digital numeric pad, he stood and made his way following behind Paige. Taking one last glance at the bomb to see that the center cylinder had turned red and the inside of the circle face had started to cycle down, he made his escape. He chanced a look back at the ship and saw that Clu's ship had backed off and was trailing at a safe distance. Tron let out a dark gravelly grunt with his rage at the User clone. Of course he had changed his position at the last moment, almost as if he knew his former ally's plan.

His view was cut off as he entered the clouds. Straightening his body for speed, he broke through the puffy vapor and took out his spare baton. In the distance he could see the distant flash of green as Paige shot off back to the city. Glad she had made it out safely, he formed his own jet and headed in the opposite direction where he hoped he would find _all_ of his freedom fighters.

* * *

"Whooooh!" Zed cheered as he emerged from the crowded elevator first. Running into the main lobby of the hideout with his arms stretched high over his head, he was followed by the rest of the assault team with similar gestures of excitement. The few members that had stayed behind to do recon on Argon were immediately at the top of the stairs that lead to the holo room when they heard the first victory cry.

"Did you guys do it?" Link asked as he neared Zed.

"You bet your bits we did! You should have seen it! The explosion was the biggest thing I've EVER seen!" Zed exclaimed in excitement before receiving an elbow to his mid section. He shot the Program a heated glare before realizing it was Mara.

"You didn't see anything, mister," she scolded in her usual manner before turning to Link. "The thing was above the clouds, we," she pointed to herself and Zed. "Were far below, dealing with Clu's soldiers," she said confidently. Link nodded his head in excitement as he listened.

"Did everyone make it?" he asked hopefully. His answer came in a form of two bright smiles before they spoke.

"Yup!" the couple answered in delight.

"Looks like Zed's little turret helped us out," Mara smirked over towards the mechanic brushed up next to her. Zed turned his face away from her feeling his cheeks heat up. Coughing once into his fist, he looked over at Link to see a silly grin on the younger Programs face. Turning slightly to get a better look, he felt the familiar warm, soft pressure of lips against his cheek and turned toward Mara who was in a soft emotional state.

"You saved a lot of people today," she murmured gently, a caressing tone that for a brief nano, caused the loud disruptive cheering to go silent in Zed's mind. At a loss for words, he felt his blush deepen but instead of turning away, wrapped his arm around her back and started to lead them down to the resting area, for some much needed rest. Link, who had seen he was no longer part of the conversation long before the two started moving, had left the two and headed to find Tron in the crowd. His face had turned back to concern immediately after leaving the couple at the top of the stairs.

"Tron," he called out when he saw the tall Program heading toward the observation deck. Hearing his voice, the hero looked over to Link and gave a rare smile, only to remove it after seeing the mechanic's serious expression.

"I was looking for you," he commented when they were in earshot of each other. "Anything to report?"

"Yes. While I was looking near the edge of Argon, I saw something weird happening in Purgos," Link paused and swallowed.

"They were rounding up hundreds of Programs and putting them on transports. I followed them and saw them being shipped out of Argon by the Solar Sailor," he finished quickly. Tron seemed frozen for a nano as he absorbed the information.

 _What does Clu want with dead beats from Purgos? And where is he taking them?_

"Was anyone there that you could recognize?" Tron asked.

"Only Dyson," Tron mulled over his thoughts for a brief nano.

"Anything else?"

"No. No one else saw anything strange," Link answered.

"Thank you," Tron nodded, letting Link know he was free to go.

Tron quickly made his way to the observation deck and pulled up his large holographic screen. Two red alerts came into view and enlarged themselves on the screen. The first was of Link's report, Programs being arrested, cuffed, and forcibly moved onto Recognizers. Scanning through the video, he pushed it off to the side, feeling it was something to be reviewed at another time. Pulling up the next alert, he was surprised to see that it was nothing more than a message. Though the message was encrypted, the sender, receiver, and origin of the message hadn't been, and most likely the reason it had been tagged.

He instantly bristled as he read the receiver. Clu. But what puzzled him was the sender.

Who was Rinzler?

* * *

Paige landed with a roll near the docks with muted sounds. She was agitated at the length of time it took for her to make it back to Argon and then having to fly around the city to the docks where there wasn't as much patrolling. She had wasted an extra 45 micros just getting to where she was at that moment.

Looking around to make sure she was safe, she slumped in posture finally letting the realization that she was exhausted come to her. With sluggish but stealth like movement, she made her way through the shipping containers that always took home in the docks. Thankfully, most of the patrols were light inside of the shipping area and were most likely near the edge of the area keeping straying and unwanted Programs away. Those guards didn't pose much of a threat either even in her groggy state, and she was past them in no time. It was only a few micros later that she closed the door behind her and crashed onto the bed in her hideout.

For a long while, she laid face down in silence. The only sound was one of the container cranes moving the units from one spot to the next. The distant moving of machinery filled her empty head and helped focus her mind on nothing. After a while, she started to hear the pattern of what was happening.

The rolling of the main platform as it moved along the tracks of the crane.

 **Clunk, Shhh, Clunk, Shhh** In rapid succession as if a traditional train moving along the tracks in the real world.

The stain on the pulleys and metal cords as they stretched and depressed to lower the hook to grab onto the edges of the container unit. Sometimes a distinct **Ting** could be heard when the cord snapped tautly back. Then more rolling.

 **Clunk, Shhh, Clunk, Shhh**

Then there was a more rolling of the metal cords as it lowered the storage unit onto a truck and returned back to its high position near the crane. More **Ting** s could be heard on this movement than the other.

 **Clunk, Shhh, Clunk, Shhh**

Another **Ting** or two.

 **Clunk, Shhh, Clunk, Shhh**

More **Ting** s

 **Clunk, Shhh, Clunk, Shhh**

 **Ting**

 **Clunk, Shhh, Clunk, Shhh**

 **Ting** s

 **Clunk, Shhh, Clunk, Shhh**

 **Ting**

 **Clunk, Shhh, Clunk, Shhh**

 **Ting** s

The sounds droned on. Micros turned into millis as the same clangs, rolls, and strains repeated themselves.

She realized that she couldn't discern the straining that seemed to happen at random. Was it the moment when the container was being moved to the truck that caused the most? Was there a certain spot on the crane that was weak and needed to be reinforced? Was one of the pulleys going bad? The thoughts came as fast as they went. Mindless questions to a trivial matter.

All this fighting…

 _War…_

 _'Good' fighting 'Evil'…_

 _'Freedom' over 'Order'…_

 _'Random' versus 'Repetition'…_

 _'Peace' against 'Perfection'…_

 _'Love'…_

 _What does that word even mean? A word that's supposed to mean happiness and contentment but it causes more pain and misery than anything else!_

"Would you rather we never met then?"

 _Yes! No! I… I don't know… Why does everything I care about… everything I love, turn into this… horrible pain?_

"If you didn't love, what would you do? If you didn't care, what is the point in living?"

 _To work… No, that's not why._

"Our Users created us, though they didn't intend for us to _feel_ the way they do, we have. We're more than simple Programs,"

 _When did you get so philosophical?_

"I've had a lot of time to think,"

 _So what's our Purpose then, Beck?_

"To follow our coding. Users created us, but our coding can be completely different from their intentions,"

 _What's my Purpose?! To feel nothing but pain?! I can't go on like this! I can't trust anyone! I have nowhere to go!_

"You can always go to Mara and Zed. Mara will always accept you. That's who she is,"

 _She's more foolish than I thought._

"Paige, you're running out of time. You need her, you need them. You're still on your _journey_ to find your true self. Don't let others get in the way,"

 _Others huh? What about myself? What about when I DEREZZED you? It's not about them. It's about me._

"What you did wasn't your fault. I should have told you,"

 _But you didn't! And now all I have left of you is a disc and your voice! Which I don't even know if it's my sanity or the disc, but I can't even trust you!_

"It doesn't matter! Keep moving forward. That's what you do best. That's what _we_ did best,"

 _We…_

"Together. I'll always be by your side,"

 _Beck… I don't know…_

"Together, Paige,"

…

 _Together…_

"Together." _Together._

* * *

AN: So thus ends Arc I. I've decided to divide the story into three separate Arcs. I'm just calling them Arcs, no reason. I will be taking another break from posting. Shouldn't be longer than a month for when I start Arc II, just want to get some work done on it.

Here's a snippet from Arc II.

 _The Program stood there a moment, his head slumped down and his body semi rigid. The concept of time stopped for Paige as she stared at the Program before her. She took a step forward and froze as she saw the Programs eyes slowly open. His chocolate colored eyes were glazed over as if he was still trying to fight a deep sleep cycle. A low growl came from his chest that seemed to be a form of a yawn as he stretched his arms over his head and looked around in confusion as his mental capability became apparent. His face was of pure confusion as he proceeded to look down at his body and feel it once again to make sure it was real._

Oh, interesting...

Arc II will be the middle ground of our fight against Clu. We'll be branching outward from Argon and visiting other known locations on the Grid.

Thank you so much Krisdaughter of Athena for your review. Exactly what I love to see. Also a thank you to TronTig3rElectus for your review a while back!

And thank you to everyone else who give their thoughts, every bit helps!

As I read your reviews, I'm filled with DETERMINATION!

Few notes on this chapter: Paige's ending segment was new for me. I've never done that style before, found it fun and challenging. I danced around and skipped most of the fighting sequences, I feel like only important ones should be written (MC vs MC, MC fighting for the first time). I feel like my action areas lack emotion, I just kind of write what happens and nothing else. I don't know if I should try adding emotion like I did with the Defiance's first major move. Hopefully that doesn't make it too boring. And lastly… Rinzler.

So with that I hope you enjoyed!

-Rose's Requiem


	15. Hints Of The User (Arc II1)

Defiance Arc II

Hints to the User

* * *

"Clu-"

"I'm aware, Dyson,"

"Shall I head back to Tron City to investigate?"

"No, I will. You stay here and keep watch over Argon with Pavel. I think our dear User is something I'd like to look into personally…" the masked, cloaked Program informed sickly, his voice taking on pleasure as he uttered the last half of his statement.

"As you wish," Dyson bowed respectfully before exiting the throne room on-board Clu's command ship. Returning to his own vessel on one of the many Recognizers, he could see a group of Programs waiting for him in the hanger. As the ship set down, he saw the Programs clearly and groaned internally at the sight of them. Pavel and his squad of Black Guards. The former system monitor always felt his anger flare towards Clu for having kept the greasy little Program around when Paige had been the obvious candidate for General. But for whatever reason, Clu picked Pavel as Tesler's replacement, which meant as long as they were in Argon, Dyson and the General would be working together.

Controlling his anger with a deep breath, Dyson redirected his anger toward the annoying man himself. When the lower deck of the Recognizer set down on the ground, he started his brisk walk over to the General of Argon, moving past him forcing him to follow.

"Yes, Pavel?" Dyson asked not attempting to hide his snide tone, though apparently having no affect on the Program's mood.

"We're nearly done rounding up those mongrels in Purgos. Where is our next area to clean?" Pavel informed with a simply disgusting glee that Clu had, only now it annoyed Dyson to hear it from such a worthless excuse of a General.

"You will be extracting more Programs from the manufacturing district. Those Programs have little to no friends besides each other. There won't be a hassle," Dyson issued coolly.

"And what will you be doing?" Pavel inquired curiously, having expected them to work together again.

"Clu is returning to Tron City to investigate a... important matter. I'll be in charge until he returns," Dyson said with strict authority. In his blind side, Pavel looked at him questioningly before breaking out into a twisted grin. Without Clu he felt he would be able to have more freedom over his style of apprehending the citizens.

"Oh, and Pavel," Dyson said as he entered the elevator that would lead to his personal command room. "I will derezz you if anyone is killed without my permission. Understand?" He asked with a calm and level tone, but his body language and facial expression seemed to glow with a deadly aura, one even Pavel knew to not take lighty.

"O-of course, Sir!" Pavel responded in terror.

* * *

Tron looked up from the footage in front of him to the alert of a high priority incident. Side swiping the videos of Programs being moved into Recognizers, his eyes slowly saw the image of Clu being decrypted and a message appearing below his portrait after it had completely cleared up his face.

It appeared that Clu was heading back to Tron City. But why was he heading back alone? What could be so important that Clu himself had to see to it personally? Surely he didn't think Dyson could take Tron back on his own?

The aged Program squinted his eyes as he glared at the image of his once trusted and close ally.

 _What's more important than me, Clu?_

Then another thought dawned on him.

 _Who is more important than me?_

Tron only hoped he was wrong with his assumption. Sadly, most of the time they turned out right.

Swiveling his body slowly, he peered at the doorway to the main hall where he could hear the distant voices of his Defiance talking to one another. He started his walk toward them in an automatic motion as he was deep in thought. Most of musing returned to one question. One question he wasn't sure of the answer when he needed to be.

Were they ready to stand against Clu without him?

He passed the through the doorway, and saw the two small groups of renegades watching from the observation deck conversing with each other about the fighting proceeding below them. He didn't know any of them personally, only by name and capability. They were too focused on their friends to notice Tron watching them from the other side of the room and how serious his expression was.

None of them were slackers. He tried to think of anyone of the Programs he felt didn't try to meet some sort of goal or expectation, and found all of his members were true to heart about their fight for freedom. While Beck was weary in the beginning because he was only one Program, the Programs in front of him were all individuals who worked together for the same desire.

And with that last thought he connected two separate things he never thought he could. ISO's and Basics.  
He visibly flinched at the thought of Basics. Over time he felt that it made less and less sense. He was a basic, tasked with the protection of the Grid, yet protocol had been overruled, and he had been scarred and damaged severely because of it. Saving a User certainly seemed to be best for the Grid, but at that moment so long ago, that wasn't what he had thought. In the brief instant of understanding, he had felt fear. Not for his life, not for the Grid, but for a friend.

Thinking back to the ISO connection, he remembered the first time seeing them. Coming from the Outlands they were... Peaceful. Something about them gave off an aura of tranquility and understanding. Unified together but with no purpose, they stayed united as Flynn found them places to stay and formed their colonies.

Unification.

That was one blaring difference between the ISOs and Basics. Most Programs weren't designed to work with others, while others may have had the same protocol or designation, it didn't ask for partnership and thus, Programs were solitary. Even back in the Old System, it wasn't until Flynn showed up that he had started working with Ram to escape the Light Cycle Arena.

Now, he had willingly taught another Program how to fight. Taking him in and trusting him as Flynn did so many xilas ago. Working with him to help secure his own future and freeing the Grid. While he hadn't learned to trust entirely, especially after Clu, he had learned how to work with others.

Everything changed with Beck. He started to care about someone again, more than just what his protocols asked for. He began to trust, actually trust in someone. He had made a friend, instead of being forced into it. And lastly, he saw hope, the last time he had seen it had been that moment he met Flynn.

Looking back at the Programs cheering out a name, he quickly realized it was Mara they were shouting. Staying silent, he moved close enough to see Mara dueling against three other opponents, with two others already tagged out. She was smirking while looking quite worked, pushing herself to the limit. Looking to the her three enemies she recognized them as Link, Perl, and Bartik, all of them with the same expression and physical strain as Mara.

Feeling a soft smile tug at his lips, he saw his answer before him. They weren't ready to stand alone against Clu, but together, they were stronger than anything the corrupted Program could ever use against them.

Slowly, he backed away from the window and started his retreat to the observation room to prepare for his departure back the city named after him.

* * *

"Mara, may I speak with you?" Tron asked as he approached the group sitting around a table relaxing after their training.

"Sure," she answered happily, bounding after him when he made it clear that he wanted a private chat.

"What's up?" She asked a little bit more seriously when they had returned back to his room.

"I'll be leaving Argon for a period of time," he said, preparing for her expectant reaction.

"Now? You can't leave with Clu here!" Mara exclaimed with worry.

"Clu isn't here. He's on his way to Tron City, as we speak. I'm going to find out why he left and what his plan are," his answer seemed to calm Mara a good amount as she relaxed herself.

"Who's going to lead the Defiance?"

"You are," Tron answered with a smirk, awaiting her reaction.

"Me?!" Mara nearly yelled as her eyes shot open and her mouth was left slightly open.

"Gavistan will be able to help you with any strategy or planning, and you have your friends to support you," Tron explained.

"But Tron, don't you remember what happened last time? When it was Moog, Rasket, and me?" She asked in desperation.

"What happened then wasn't your fault. It was their fault for not following orders," stepping closer, he clasped his hand on her shoulder and gave her a hardened gaze. "I know you won't let that happen again,"

Mara stood stiff for a while as she gazed into his steel blue eyes, until finally relaxing under the realization that certain things had changed. No longer was she some star struck girl looking up to an idol, but was working with him. It occurred to her at the moment that instead of acting like the hopeless tag along, she had been reforged in the hearth of Tron's presence and training. The same intense heat that bolstered Beck's own prowess.

"What should I do?" Mara asked after finally letting the leadership sink in. The question and acceptance made a grin form on the older Programs lips.

"Keep doing recon, that much you know. What you need to try to do is stop Dyson from imprisoning more Programs. That's one of the facts I hope to figure out when I go to Tron City," he said in a low dark tone as he stepped away from the mechanic.

"I'll talk to Gav about a plan. Anything else?" The young Program asked, fully engaged with the topic and her responsibilities.

"Recruits. We've been focused on attacks that we haven't made time to find others. When you save those Programs, ask if they're willing to join," Tron said.

"But what if they just run back to Dyson? How do we know if we can trust them?" Mara asked dubiously.

"I trust you're judgement in that matter,"

Mara nodded slowly as she felt her lack of confidence start to creep up on her again. Tron didn't seem to notice as he continued to pack a small backpack of necessities: energy capsules, a Recoder, something he had been learning how to use from Zed, an emergency Baton Jet in the event he lost the two on his leg, a third Light Bike, and lastly, Able's Encom 786.

* * *

Having left the Defiance in the hands of Mara, Tron was now flying toward the Sea of Simulation. The weather had been quiet for the past few mylas, but of course the cycle Tron decided to travel was the one the weather turned back to it's usual form. Unseen to anyone, he was hurtling through the blizzard traveling through the Outlands that had started as a storm off the sea. The white square centimeter sized snow blobs were visible only about a meter in front of him before they either collided with his mask or faded in the dark gray abyss of the storm to further fall down toward the ground. He was essentially blind and the only thing keeping him on the right path was his keen sense of direction.

 _Thank you, Alan-1_

He hadn't thought about his User in the a long time. Most of the time he remembered him he was riddled with guilt. He had all the time in the Grid to think of his User and thank him for everything he had done, but since his isolation he hadn't communicated with Alan. It was shameful as a Basic. Even more so for Tron.

Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't realized the storm had started to thin, and the temperature was rising slightly. Breaking through the edge of the storm, he was met with open dark blue and gray hues. Below him was the Sea of Simulation, dark, mysterious, and deadly. The waves never cusping and crashing into themselves but moving up and down in elevation, causing a hypnotic scene of motion. Above and in front was the bland empty skies of the Grid. Simple and clean, it almost seemed like a void, listless and oddly soothing. There wasn't anything to be seen for kilometers as he headed north.

* * *

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Gav called as they started the meeting in the holo room. The Programs settled down and looked toward Gavistan and Mara at the front expectantly. With the attention obtained, Gav looked to Mara who nodded curtly before activating the holo screen.

"As you know, Tron has left me in charge while he's away," she stated firmly, trying to appear in charge. Her eyes roamed the faces of her friends and allies, scanning for their reaction to her position. Sadly, only a few of the mechanics seemed pleased that Mara was the temporary leader of the Defiance while the rest seemed weary and slightly uncomfortable at best.

"I'm sure you'd rather have someone else, but Tron left me in charge for a reason," pointing her thumb at her chest from her fist, she puffed out her chest and shoulders as confidence started to flow through her. Straightening her posture one last time, she harden her eyes to their rare authoritative state. The same expression she would give Programs who weren't doing their job back at the garage. One look Zed was all too familiar with.

"We're in this together," she looked to Zed and then Gav, their expressions helping reassure her. "We're here to fight against Clu and bring freedom to the Grid. I know we can't do it alone, but if we work together, we can come out on top!" She nearly shouted in her excitement to the others. With her speech the others were appeared more content and even energized, having watched and received the courage and determination from her.

It wouldn't be soon that the others would come to trust her as they did Tron, but over time, with the success of assaults on their foes, and help from her friends, she would become their leader.

* * *

The station was filled with a surprising amount of Programs. Packs of Black Guards crossed through the platforms, disappearing and reappearing as they passed the supporting pillars and headed on their routine path line. Sentries stood on watch near the entrances and exits to both the trains and the station itself, having little else to do but to glower at the busy Programs, that mainly shied away.

Tron slid from the freight train he had smuggled himself on when the guards turned away and all other patrols were blind to his presence. With fleet feet, he merged with the crowds unnoticed and proceeded to the upper floors where he would exit to street level.

The streets were much like the other roadways of Grid cities, unlike in the User world where different locations would have other building materials and styles mostly depending on the climate. The only differences would depend on what section of the city a Program would find themselves.

Industrial was grittier and the walls were lighter as the material was stronger than typical Grid stone. The spacing of buildings and roads were the largest of any other civilian accessed area. Only military outpost having large space.

Business was as any major city. Tightly congested, buzzing with activity, and mostly vertical tall buildings in the area, giving the impression of a maze with the suffocating lack of freedom.

Residential areas were less crowded, nicely spaced, and more relaxing than the hard edged and stiff business districts. Often incorporating abstract building designs and uniqueness, the large apartment buildings held thousands of Programs with an 'efficient' amount of space for each individual.

The docks, if the city had one, was usually found next to the Industrial areas, and had large roads as well. Only these roads were usually busy with large semi's and other massive transport vehicles.

The train stations were also filled with people, but it held a certain flow, one could only find there. With easy directions and corridors to use, the station was a smooth flowing machine of efficiency. People exiting never interfered with those entering, and the paced pillars of the station allowed for an invisible path to be followed and the current of Programs to move freely.

Quickly, and as discreetly as possible, Tron had exited out of the station as was soon on his way to the edge of the city.

No doubt Clu was already in the capital surrounded by an army of soldiers itching for a fight. As much as he wanted to go out for surveillance he wasn't entirely sure what he was up against. This Rinzler character was something Tron hated, an unknown. In the cycles that Tron and Flynn's malfunctioning copy worked together, he learned that he was not like his original in many ways. While Flynn was trusting, naïvely so, Clu was analytical and found little tolerance in others. He made for an efficient and hard leader but that's what was needed for the perfect system.

Which is exactly why a completely unknown Program is so unexpected to be at Clu's side. Only a Program made from a genius User could satisfy Clu. As far as Tron knew, that was only Flynn and Tron. Unless Flynn or Alan had made another Program, who could it be? And if Alan had managed to import a new Program, why hadn't the portal to the User world been opened? There was only one other Program Flynn had made but Tron knew him to be derezzed.

The amount of questions swarming around one Program did not suite Tron's body and made him slightly queazy. This was not how he wanted to start his search for his old colleague.

Snapping himself from his downtrodden thoughts, he focused on Flynn. If there was someone who knew how to beat Clu, it'd be the User of the Grid.

* * *

The streets were deserted. Dim blue and white circuit lights along the buildings gave a late night ambience as Tron walked out from alleyway. He glanced both ways on the street and saw no one. Farther down the road, it was lit up and the occasional Program on a Light Bike drove on a perpendicular road toward the heart of the city Tron was heading away from.

Out on the edge of the city was where he had started his search. Programs in the outer rim of the city were more likely to speak openly about matters concerning sensitive or shunned topics by Clu. Looking to the street that started on the opposite side of the alley he had just exited, he kept a controlled but confident pace as he moved. If anyone were to spot him, he'd blend in by looking to be familiar with where he was going. The road he was on was smaller than the normal city one, giving him the impression it was another back alley but was frequently used as a path taken by bikers. There weren't any buildings in the distance that would have cut off the road's path and the sides of the mountains in the Outlands could be seen. It was an confusing feeling of being relatively deep in the city, yet having the sight of the Outlands. Tossing the feelings aside and focusing on more important thoughts, Tron eyed the small bar that clearly didn't look up to Clu's standard.

After pectros of exploring and interrogating the under city scum and low-lives, he had made his way out to this section of the city.

While nothing could be outright said about it, the walls were poorly maintained and showed damaging scars of unruly patrons and customers. The circuit lights around the building also seemed off in a trashy type of way, almost as if there was a blockage of energy and the lights appeared lower in brightness compared to others. And as Tron walked up to the door, he realized it wasn't automatic like so many others were on the Grid. Taking a grip on the handle, that was supposed to be shiny and metallic, clear from the one on the other door, that hadn't been used for some mysterious reason, he pulled the door opened and entered as discreetly as he could.  
The insides didn't appear to fair any better than the outside, sharing similar and even more worn and damaged marks and patterns on the walls and floor. The lighting was similar, and unlike outside there were a few circuit lights that were luminated to their proper amount, making a striking and unpleasant difference to the ones that weren't.

 _Nice place..._ He thought as he noted on the four Programs in the room and the fifth who was tending the bar. Two were at the single pool table off in the back left of the bar and looked away as soon as they figured the new comer wasn't important. A completely masked and skinny Program sat alone at a small table that was positioned near the front, where Tron had entered, and was only a few paces from the door. The last customer was at the bar with a dull looking shot of energy, no doubt it was alcoholic. The man was bulky, his expression was hard and thinking of something he was clearly trying to forget with the drink, hunched over and eyes locked onto the table, but Tron had a feeling he was looking far past it. The bartender herself wasn't anything out of the ordinary looking, stripped with white as all the others, she had yellow secondary circuit lines and her face didn't strike Tron with any special characteristics besides a nose piercing. She caught eyes with the old security Program through his visor and nodded towards the little guy sitting at the table, as if reading his mind that he wanted information. For some reason, the bartender gave his senses a warning, an odd sensation at the back of his mind he couldn't quite place.

Turning toward the Program, he found a visor looking up at his and fingers tapping almost impatiently on the table. He pulled the chair out with more resistance than he was accustomed to, no doubt the ware on the unkept floors and the chairs together made for a large amount of \mu. No sound was made as placed himself on the chair and glowered at the Program before him. The tapping had stopped but it seemed the two were still in the midst of sizing each other up. It wasn't until the sound of a filled glass hitting the table next to Tron's had did the two look away from each other.

"Geam, how about you ask what he wants?" The bartender said as she looked over to Tron with a smirk. "He's the silent brooding type," she paused a moment in thought. "And I have a feeling that you are too. Most of you types are," Her phrasing caught his attention.

"Us _types_?" Tron asked back, his voice returned to its distorted form.

"Looking for information, but you have a brain under that hard head of yours. The other type are the ones without the brain, and usually run in with discs out," she took a second and smiled to herself while propping herself into a confident pose. "Brooders, and Bruisers. That's what I call them," she announced with stride.

A couple grunts and a laughing scoff issued from the other attendants of the bar, clearly she spoke her mind to those around her. Tron thought of a dozen different holes in her naming but kept his opinions to himself, as per usual. He kept his gaze aimed at her as she seemed to glow, oblivious to his desire that she leave them in private. When she kept off her high cloud, she met his visor with a stern look, again, as if she could read his thoughts, she was answering with a defiant no.

With her expression, something clicked either Tron. The girl looked like Yori. Her rounder cheeks, soft eyes, her nose, lips, all the same. The only difference was that she had rich brown hair, unlike Yori's blonde.

"I ain't leaving. This is my place, my rules, bud," she spoke vehemently, misunderstanding the long silence and staring as him requesting her leave.

 _By the Users, even her voice..._ Tron thought one last notion, before snapping back into focus. He put a palm up signally he understood before turning to the Program Geam.

"I'm looking for someone," he opened.

"Lot of people are looking for someone. Gotta be more specific, mate," Geam said back, his voice low, cool, and smooth with smugness. Tron gritted his teeth but refrained from putting the pompous ass in his place. He needed a lead.

"I'm not exactly the most trusting Program," he whipped out his disc and calmly put it on the table. "Or the most patient. So, these next few questions stay between the three of us," he growled with the malice of death lining his words.

The two at the pool table took immediate notice and pulled out their discs, lighting them and appeared itching for a fight. Geam and the bartender raised a hand at the same time, signaling for them to cool it.

"Depends. I don't exactly see eye to eye with Clu. Hope your friend isn't part of his organization," Geam spoke softer and leaned slightly forward, seeming to ignore Tron's disc.

"Friend. Funny you should say that. Person I'm looking for is my only friend,"

"Don't have many friends either, get on with it, Brooder," the young woman spoke harshly.

"His name is Flynn..."

The two frozen immediately. There was a brief moment where Tron could feel the sweet on his cheek sliding down his face, and he wasn't sure if he misjudged the two and their loyalty. In that instant, he felt the horror of facing the bartender in combat, and having to derez her.

"Flynn never had friends. He was a User, betrayed by Clu," Geam spoke up finally, his accent hardly noticeable with the whisper of his voice.

"What about Tron?" the old Program offered, knowing what he was basically informing them of.

"Clu killed him when he betrayed Flynn," the other Program spat hotly.

"Do you know where Flynn is or not?" Tron asked roughly, getting back to the point.

"Depends. You really who I think you are?" Geam shot back, leaning forward over the table, anger rippling off his body in an invisible but sensed aura.

"If I was him why would I tell you? I'm just a Program looking for a User,"

"You act like that's common, mate," Geam pointed out.

"No, and it's certainly not approved of by the state. Regardless, I'm still here, and I still need information,"

"We can show you," the bartender spoke up finally, her voice mild and fragile sounding. Tron glanced back at her and waited expectantly.

"We don't know where he is exactly, but we can show you the general spot he's hiding out," she spoke a little more confidently, the faith she was putting in him was growing for some reason.

"Gale! How do we know-"

"We can," she cut off her companion with gentle coaxing. She turned her head away from him and met Tron's helmet with a sweet smile. A smile that caused him to black out for a fraction of a micro. In that instance, he was in a different world, a different time, with a different woman. But as soon as he tried to enjoy the memory, before he could relive the purity of her skin, the lushness of her warm, soft lips, and her brilliant blue eyes that opposed his cold steel ones, it was gone. He blinked at the woman before him and saw those same features, with new additions. Her hair wasn't in the same style, it looked slightly unkept but attractive. The piercing, of course, was not on his old love's nose, but it seemed to suit her. Lastly, her eyes weren't alive with the same radiant fire that was in Yori's, but they still held a deep inferno, only mixed with a calming swirl of cold understanding and sagacity. She had both their eyes.

"Who are you?" Tron asked lightly, unaware of the two's bewildered reaction.

"Name's Gale, been livin' here for a Xila. Took this place over when the old man disappeared,"

"Old man?"

"Kobol," she responded with bitterness, as if the name made her mouth sour. It took a moment, but Tron snapped to attention once he recognized the name.

"Does he have red secondary circuits?" Tron inquired rapidly.

"Yeah, you seen him?" Geam asked in a low growl.

"I saw him get derezzed," the eldest of the group responded, before leaning back and imagining the coincidences happening. The other two looked as if the Users had restored them, appearing to have eased a great amount.

"What!? Where?" Geam immediately launched.

"Argon," Tron answered simply.

Geam looked like he wanted to ask more, hear the whole story, but a hand on his shoulder made his jaw stop from fully completing the first words. A quick glance at Gale and he snapped his jaw closed again. The content of knowing the man was gone seemed to be more than enough satisfaction. The other two were quiet as they waited for her.

"Thank you," Yori's look-alike spoke gently. The small silence resumed for another moment.

"Much as I love good news, think it's time we get back on topic," the skinny man articulated. His words seemed to snap Gale back to reality and focused on Tron once more.

"We don't know where he is, but he gave us a location to go to if we needed to find him," looking back at the other occupants who had settled down a little, she spoke softly. "We can't do it now. After we close, we can show you,"

* * *

Having left the bar soon after being told their closing time, Tron had road around the area analyzing the Occupation's hold and watch over the sector. It appeared that only a couple of squads had been stationed out in the dead sector.

His patrol gave him a chance to review the past pectro. His search had paid off. He was incredibly grateful he had a hint to his old colleague. But his mind swiftly left that joy and dove straight into the enigma of the bartender, which, he'd never admit, was more pressing than news of Flynn.

Her answer to his question did not satisfy his growing hunger to know about her. What was her story? Did Yori's User create another Program? Was it a 'kid' of the User, as Flynn had described the basic world of Users and 'humans' much to Tron's disinterest at the time?

Frustratingly, the more he thought of Gale and the past, the more questions seemed to formulate around her, rather than be answered.

At some point, he had stopped his lazy ride around the buildings and stared out to the distant cold light that was the gate to the User's world. He stayed in his mind for long micros, straying from one topic to the next, but to him time was nonexistent. It was when he returned to thoughts of his lost love did he become aware of himself. He revved the engine of the 4th generation Light Bike, and started back down the road toward the bar.

 _Yori... What would you do? You always had a better plan than me. You were always smarter... And you weren't even programmed for it..._

 _...Alan is one lucky User to have yours to love._

 _I should know._

Slowing to a stop in front of the bar, he was met with two Programs at the double doors. Gale and Geam both wore helmets and appeared to be wearing extra armor around vital areas of their body.

"Ready?" Tron asked with his voice distorted once more. Geam broken his baton and climbed on with Gale soon following.

Setting off, Tron glanced at the leading bike and focused on the driver's helmet, and he wondered what this Geam looked like and what his story was.

* * *

AN: I'm late. Sorry. I was hoping that the beginning of the new Arc would have some more spice but this chapter just didn't sit well with me. I'm not a fan of rewriting certain things without a clearly fleshed out idea, so I was stuck trying to make what I had work.

I like Mara as a leader but I almost can't fathom how she does it. She fierce and powerful... But I find that any threats she could use against someone who was trying to go against her would be worthless, maybe because I'm like Zed and would know how to escape her wrath. Also, you've seen Mara rally others in the TV series so I skipped her doing it for the most part.

Gale and Geam were never planned out, they just happened. If you're thinking that it's odd Tron found a lead so fast, it would make sense that Tron's connection to the Grid would lead him in the right direction, kind of like the Force, that and he has a natural instinct.

Also, time uses such as micros, xilas, etc, will be correctly used. Arc I times will still be incorrect until I fix them.

Next few chapters will be FAR more interesting, trust me. Things move along, and the lovely Doctor is there.

I hope you enjoyed!

-Rose's Requiem


	16. New and Old Friendships (Arc II 2)

Defiance Arc II

New and Old Friendships

* * *

At some point Tron had become weary of the two leading him. Back alleys, dark, worn down, and with them not telling him a word it was quite understandable how he couldn't help but feel paranoid. And eventually they stopped.

Getting off his bike, he stalked his way to the pair with his hand itching to bolt to his disc. The two seemed oblivious to his state as Gale lowered her visor and Geam peered around in a perimeter sweep.

"So, what are we looking for?" Tron asked.

"Not sure,"

"What is that supposed to mean?" he nearly barked in annoyance. For all he knew this was still a trap, and these two were working for Clu.

"He told us that if we needed to find him that we'd have to come here. That's it," Gale responded, her hands running over the walls of a decrepit building.

Tron allowed the two youths to search aimlessly. His sense were tingling with familiar vibrations, the old Monitor functions given to him were telling him they were in the right spot, and where ever Flynn had left his bread trail, he had hid it so only Tron could find it. His body was still antsy from the long bumpy ride over, and he couldn't help but notice this as he kneeled down to the ground and placed his palm to it. Within the microsecond that the information flashed in his mind, he could recall the past events of what happened in this odd section of the grid. It wasn't much. Almost all of it was a group of sentries who patrolled the area, until they were reassigned a new path as they hadn't been here in sometime. Whether Flynn had picked this spot purely for the fact that it'd be easy to recall his steps with little error, or he had somehow redirected the patrol in some odd way only a User could, Tron would have to ask, but in all likelihood probably wouldn't.

Finding the night the User had decided to leave his clue behind, he could see the favored robes of the User as he entered the small plaza. Starting on the south side wall, he tapped it, moved to the center of the plaza, did the same, and repeated the same with the north side and then east wall before he left out one of the eastern alleys.

Tron opened his eyes to find Gale already looking at the spot on the north wall, and Geam in the middle where the other spot was.

 _Coincidence_. The old System Monitor proposed seeing that there were no external indication of the User placing a hidden message.

"Both of you stand over there," Tron told them pointing over to the west wall. His random order startling Gale and causing Geam to hesitantly move away from the ground he was inspecting. Quickly, he followed the path of the User. Turning back as he tapped the last wall, he saw that all the spots had lit up in glowing squares, a bright white that Tron wasn't sure how they were glowing. They all followed them with their eyes as the squares floated toward the center and formed the tetrahedral symbol of Tron before morphing together into a small chip

Tron made his way over to the floating white square and inspected it with his hand. Holographic lines of protected code ran through the miniature digital sprite. He let the other two inspect it as well when they were close enough.

"What is it?" Gale asked intently curious of the object.

"Compressed data. It was something Flynn was able to incorporate when he started the new system. It holds data at a much better capacity than most other devices on the Grid," Tron explained as he slowly pulled his disc and started pulling up menus from the interface. "His original issue was a compressor for the data, and subsequently the decompressor for it," Finding the application he was searching for, he selected it. All other menus disappeared and left a holographic mesh in the center of his disc where he glided the chip through. "It wasn't until we started the new system did he find the perfect tool," Tron finished taking one last glance at his disc and then looking at the two.

"So what's the data?" the young woman persisted.

"It's a map of an area in the Outlands," he informed, pulling up said map. The map showed a rough guide line from their position to a general area in the uncoded rocky terrain. It was far, almost ten times as far as his own hideout was from Argon.

"That's a long way out," Geam commented in his dull manner.

"Not for me,"

For a moment Gale looked to say something, but Tron felt it was time to leave the two for now and promptly cut her off before she could start.

"I should be going. I want to thank you for your help, both of you. Without you, I could have taken me xilas to find him," Tron said with true sincerity and gratitude in his voice.

"Wait, that's it? You're just leaving like that?" the bartender nearly exploded in frustration.

"I didn't finish. You two would be perfect for the Defiance, and I'd like to ask here and now, will you join us?" the leader of the Defiance asked seriously.

"The Defiance?"

"It's my- our fight against Clu. We're starting in Argon, but soon we'll be taking over other cities and occupations. We're going to free the Grid, are you willing to join our fight?"

There was a small pause that hung in the air after the asked the question. For the brief moment, Tron felt awkward asking two recently strangers to join his operation to defeat Clu, especially since one his motives for asking was purely selfish and dealt with his irreversible past.

"Yes," Gale spoke softly.

"Good, glad to hear it. I'll keep in contact with you as much as I can, but for now start by recruiting others,"

"Don't you need our help in Argon?" Geam asked.

"Argon will be handled, I need your help for the long term of this… war. Can you do that?"

The two nodded in return.

"Good. Two more orders. Choose people you trust and be weary of everyone,"

"The other order?"

"Stay alive. I need both of you and have a lot of questions to ask you before this is all over," the older man said while staring intentionally at Gale. She gave him a reassuring nod and two words.

"We will,"

* * *

"Beck," The toned Program turned to see Paige coming in from the eastern side of Argon Square. She seemed in a rush as her steps were quick and her expression seemed strained.

"Paige, I'm glad you made it," he announced happily as she was a few steps out. When she stopped in front of him she let out a disgruntled huff.

"Tell me about it. Let's get out of here, I want to put today behind me," she said with finality. Beck let out a few chuckles and raised his arm to the direction of the nearest road.

"Right this way," he joked in a formal manner. "I have the perfect place,"

The couple proceeded to the road and with Beck's Light Bike assembled they were well on their way to the 'perfect place'.

During the ride, Beck decided to tell Paige of his day hoping to get her mind of her own. He was thankful it was a cycle spent at Able's garage working with Zed and Mara, opposed to his usual Renegade escapades. He had lied about events before, especially times when he was out and about as the Renegade the whole day, but he hated to. It was the hardest part of having the alter-ego. Not the life or death situations, the opposition he faced, the loss of sleep, or even the lack of work he was able to do at the garage. It was the lying. The ones he cared most about he couldn't tell the truth. But it was for their protection.

He looked back at Paige who had laughed at a particular part of his day.

Because they weren't ready to understand the truth.

 _Not yet._

It was a half a pectro later when they landed on their destination. High on top of the cliffs that surround Argon, there was a small formatted platform. Old, worn, and seemingly forgotten, the circuit lights of the structure dimly stayed on, evidence power still managed to reach it at the kilometers away it was from the power source.

Beck was first to step onto the stairs that lead to the top with his companion close behind.

"What is this place?" she asked in wonder. The problems of her day pushed far to the back of her mind.

"This was an old watch outpost when Argon was still just being built," he explained.

"How do you know about it?" the commander inquired as they topped the final step.

"My boss, Able. He told us about this place a long time ago. The four of us came here and checked it out,"

"Your friends?" Paige stated more than questions.

"Yeah. We haven't been here since that one time," With the last sentence they were silent until they reached the edge of the platform.

For the second time, Argon's blue and orange hues could be seen in the distance filling up most of the space before their eyes. The light haze of smog that stayed over the city moved slightly. Moving with the flow of the life and clusters of information as it moved through the roads to the next destination. Living, with the subtle moving of the mist it was breathing, somehow organic. And with it's pacific inhales and exhales, it granted the two Programs of Grid their own tranquility. A peace of mind only acquired when two pieces of a complicated puzzle were brought together.

To the far left and right stood the roaming mountains of the Outlands. Tipped in snow and breaking through the sky, they loomed over the city, as if protecting and separating the land of the uncoded and raw code from the regulated and controlled organization of Argon. Scarred with the battle of the harsh climate and weather, jagged edges speared outward at random areas seeming to defiantly stand against the winds.

And behind them was only flat open lands for kilometers. So far that the darken sky and the black terrain of stone meshed at the horizon. From this direction, the wind was blowing toward them, causing Beck's hair to bend forward and Paige's hair that wasn't in her bun to become loose and flop lazily as they rested their forearms on the railing and stared out.

"So, last time you asked me how it was to make music, now I want to know. What's it like to fix anything in front of you?" she asked looking over at him, her left eye usually completely hidden by her hair now somewhat visible through the cracks of her hair as it parted with the soft wind.

"I can't fix everything in front of me,"

"More than what I can fix. My only solution is to hit it a few times," they both chuckled softly.

"I've had to do that myself believe it or not," the mechanic looked out to the horizon and seemed to be ponder a minute before continuing. "It's fun and incredibly satisfying. Figuring out the working pieces and parts of a complicated system, and understanding it, it's a wonderful buzzing in the back of your head. Then taking those parts and removing the non working piece, it's…" Beck suddenly blushed and turned his head away while his hand rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, this must sound really boring,"

"No! It sounds amazing. I get where you're coming from. It's similar to fixing someone's code. They're just something about fixing something that's damaged, making it work again… If only it was that simple out there," she emphasized her last statement but sorrowfully looking out to Argon.

"Maybe it is,"

"Beck…" Paige groaned in half exhaustion and playfulness knowing exactly where his thoughts were going.

"Sorry, I won't bring _him_ up," he teased before they both fell silent again.

They had talked about it before. It wasn't exactly a date at the time, but they both managed to get some time off and meet up for a little bit. Beck had managed to reveal his fondness for the Renegade without Paige tearing his head off, all the while making completely valid points of how the Occupation wasn't the only solution to the city's issues. At the time, Paige had told him of her hatred for ISO's, which he immediately countered that Argon had never been home to ISO's, which also made for the point that before the Occupation, Argon's general populous was working well, striving even. She had to reluctantly take his word for it as he had been in Argon for xilas, and her files on the city before her arrival were somewhat on the same lines. Now… it was in a civil war of sabotage and rebellion.

"Hey… why don't we head to my place?" Paige offered, breaking their content silence. Beck raised his eyebrow and gave her a curious look with a grin.

"What'd you have in mind?"

"Don't act like that!" she laughed while giving him a shove. "You know that's not what I meant. I just wanted to show you my Monome,"

"Sounds great," he said slowly starting his way back to the stairs.

"Besides, it is cold up here. I'd rather you keep me warm," she hummed slyly, causing him to blush.

 _She sure knows how to be brazen._

"All the more reason to head there sooner," he automatically responded back, still feeling rather new to all of the gimmicks that went into being in a relationship. But all he would have had to do was turn around to see that she was equally as red.

And so, the two returned to Paige's apartment issued to her by the Occupation. It was one of many in a large skyscraper, and most likely looked like all the rest, but it was still hers. A place she used all about twice.

It was after their third date that she had transferred her more personal belongings to the apartment as the Renegade had infiltrated the ship and she felt it was less secure. Pavel having already attempted to enter her room on occasion.

As she gave him a quick walk through of the small place, she went to the closet of her room and retrieved the bulky device and brought it to the coffee table that sat in front of the sofa in the middle of the living room. When the two had settled on the couch, Paige tentatively started the song up.

The simple trance techno beat begun. Quickly, other elements of the song laid themselves onto the flow and created a wondrous melody. In the short minute the music played, Beck was raptured by it. He could feel it, the emotion she wrote the music with. There was a deep well of longing, a calling for something greater in notes. A desire to fulfill something that was dwelling deep inside of her. Before she was a medic. And with the added notes that were light and free, she had found it. Found that core inside of her. For a time she was happy and free, content with everything around her. That's the high point of the song, where all the parts are present and the piece is at it's loudest, it's brightest, before dipping downward into a melancholy like state. Long, slow, and deep sounds reverberate through the room as the presence takes over for a brief moment. But before it ends the previous set of notes plays lightly, as if in the distance as a reminder. A telling of sad moments only to be drowned out by the security and passion of her healing ability, always within her as her solid ground when she needs somewhere to stand.

The song written of a person who's passion overflowed and bonded with their creativity to form their heart's one true melody.

"It's beautiful…" Beck whispered out, his chest tight with emotions.

"Thanks," Paige responded sheepishly. "I… I haven't let anyone listen to it in a long time,"

"I'm glad you shared it. It defines the you I know so well,"

"And that is?"

" _Not_ the Commander," He said quite sternly as they both stared at each other. "The woman I'm looking at right now," he spoke softly, steadily growing closer to her.

The two joined together and molded together. The medic hastily pushed her companion backwards so that she was on top of him while he laid across the sofa. To them their passionate connect stretched for hours, and yet it still wasn't enough for the two, probably because it actuality it was a mere few minutes.

Both made themselves comfortable, Beck with his head resting against the arm rest, Paige finding her head against his chest. Her hand found his resting on her lower back. Reaching for it with her own, she intertwined their fingers and brought it outward to where they could both see it.

-memory-

The days were starting to get warmer around the city. The warmer months were taking over the cold. With them would be harder seaside storms, stronger winds, and the ease of tension as the stiff weather didn't tire Programs out.

High up, yet again, an infamous Paige stood tall on the edge of the cliff that surrounded an area of Argon between the striving city and depleted Purgos. While ground level was starting to warm, the kilometer from sea level where the Doctor found herself was still uncomfortably frosty. What was with her infatuation with high points over the city? Time and time again, she would stay in these viewpoints of the city, gazing over the blue and orange glows of the conflicted and mixed city. Still fighting. Still at war. Still in the midst of change.

Recalling their fourth date was bittersweet. As a great many things are. But she focused on the thoughts of their hands together. The warmth of the was generated by their fusion. The security it brought to her. The love it filled her chest with.

Looking down at her hand, her eyes looked at it with slightly bewildered eyes.

 _Love…_

Her musings were cut short when the back of her hairs stood on end and the unnerving feeling of being watched loomed over her. Gripping the railing she was on, she looked around cautiously but found nothing but the rock formations of the cliff side. Who ever and how ever she was being spied on she wasn't sure, but they were good.

And with the eyes still probing her, she felt it was time to end her hour long sight-seeing at the old outlook post.

* * *

Paige's foot steps made no sound as she slowly prowled on the rooftops of the buildings of Argon, stalking the guards below her. Her anger heating up within her. With her focus below, she failed to notice the shadow of a Program find its way to her rooftop.

"Hello, Doctor," The mysterious Program spoke when he felt he was close enough to her. Paige instantly turned to face her unwelcome guest with Beck's disc in her right hand.

"Sorry I didn't mean to startle you," the hooded figure raised hands as if the signal he wasn't a threat.

"Who are you?" Paige knew a Program that could sneak up on her was not to be taken lightly.

"How rude of me, my name is Cyrus," the Program lifted his hood to reveal his face covered in small circuit designs that went under his robes.

Paige immediately tensed up as she recognized him from his name and appearance. Cycles of going through Beck's memories had taught her that Tron wasn't the best of character when he 'chose' his first Renegade. Cyrus had nearly killed Beck when he escaped from his prison in the Outlands and almost killed his friends not to long after.

The former commander tensed as she realized how big of threat Cyrus really was. Always prepared, vastly intelligent, and never made a move without first understanding his opponents weakness. He really was ruthless in his way of bringing his enemies down. Only Tron got the luxury of being too weak for Cyrus, as Cyrus demanded acknowledgment from him and would never derezz him before he was told he was superior.

"Tell me, did you enjoy our fights? Paige, I never wanted to hurt you when I was the Renegade. I hope you know that," Cyrus seemed to have an odd gentle sound in his voice. Sincerity. It sounded too real, and especially too sweet coming from this Program.

"What are you talking about?"

"When we were trapped on that island together, I was coming to save you!" Paige felt her anger flare up. He was lying. Beck was the only Renegade...

"Now that you're not part of the Occupation I thought I'd try to recruit you to join the Uprising, as myself, not behind a mask," Cyrus seemed genuinely caring and hopeful. Paige wanted to vomit at how the Program across of her was acting.

"Interesting, Renegade," she was nearing her breaking point.

"Paige, surely you know we've had those moments together, when we were fighting,"

"Enough Cyrus!" Paige shouted and prepared to start attacking.

 _What should I do... He always knows the moves of his opponents, should I start out differently?_

Paige contemplated her attack. She knew she'd have to do things different if she wanted to win.

"Paige, no need to get angry. I'm just trying to help were not enemies here," Cyrus was still gentle, trying to soothe her, only fueling the raging inferno of hate within her.

"Cyrus, you're not the Renegade, not anymore," Paige said through gritted teeth.

"Paige..." Cyrus took a step closer. Paige raised her second disc and ignited it.

"I know Beck was the Renegade, he's the one I fought!" taking a feral stance, Paige prepared herself to dish out a fiery of blows. With the acknowledgement that Paige knew Cyrus was bluffing he changed his mood to his cynical superior attitude. Like taking off an imaginary mask, Cyrus's mood change was immediate.

His plan all along was to anger Paige, make her lose control. It was his favored technic to gain the advantage over his enemies, mainly Tron and Beck. Tron was harder to anger but when he was it made it a much easier fight, while Beck was so easy to anger it was almost a joke. Simply being in his presence made the young mechanic start to lose his cool. With Paige, Cyrus studied that she used it to destroy the weak guards she used to work beside. He was sure that like all other Programs, Paige would be no different.

The sinister Program only smirked back at Paige.

"Sorry Paige, did I upset you? My mistake, I figured you and Beck were close but I didn't think you'd get so upset over one little Program," Cyrus's words stabbed into Paige's heart and caused her vision to black out for a moment. The Doctor regained her focus and starred at Cyrus. He was trying to anger her.

"I see without your worthless Renegade you're nothing but a..." Paige stopped listening to the Program in front of her and started planning her attack.

 _He was probably ready for any impulsive attack, expecting it in fact. A feint would probably be the best move. From there... I'll see how he fights._

Paige started to charge at Cyrus who immediately went into a position she was familiar with. It was one of Be- the Renegade's stances. She threw her disc up towards the right side of Cyrus's head causing him to lean away from the throw.

As he predicted she would snap. He felt joy as she charged him suddenly and prepared himself in the general stance Tron taught him.

Paige swung her recently free right hand toward Cyrus as his hand lunged out to grab her wrist. While she aimed her fist to be caught, she grabbed her disc with her other hand. The movement hidden by sight as it occurred under the cloak. Cyrus grabbed her's wrist with easy anticipation. He expected her to attack with her other arm, forgetting her disc out of rage. When he heard the hum of a disc he was already too late.

Paige silently and efficiently made her movements invisible to her opponent, sneaking her disc to the edge of her cloak. She uppercut with her disc towards the elbow of her opponent's prisoning arm, igniting it on its approach. Sadly, her target moved on instinct but wasn't able to completely avoid the attack.

Cyrus immediately retracted his arm and body when he heard the disc. Jumping back and landing, he felt the burning pain of exposed code as it was brightly lit on his wrist. The low growl that escaped his throat was filled with anger as he glowered at the Doctor of Death.

With incredible speed, she was upon him again, performing a series of lashes and jabs she had trained herself to work into a devastating combination. From a distance, it looked as if she was dancing. Her discs flying through the air with a grace and speed as their lights trailed after them in a dazzling show of two colors working together.

Unfortunately for her opponent, he was completely unaware of the amount of experience she had managed to obtain over the short time he was gone along with her hidden power-up. Barely deflecting half of her attacks and avoiding the rest, he had no chance to turn the tides and was constantly on defense.

 _How?!_ He thought enraged at his obvious disadvantage in the battle. His own modifications to his body he had figured out in his own world seemed to fail him as she pressed forward, only in different angles. Moving faster than his eyes could handle, she was visibly disappearing before his eyes to reappear in his peripheral and grant him just enough time to move out of the way of her, or Beck's, disc.

"I know what you did," came her low growl. It was hollow sounding but backed with a source of rage. Cyrus continued to parry and evade her attacks with the tightest of margins, his first error would most likely be his last.

"I know you framed him," she continued, vanishing before him to pop back into sight when he fully turned around and rolled backwards to escape yet another jab at his chest.

"I know you killed Able. Made it look like he trapped his friends. Murdered those innocent Programs," her words had done their job and throw her target's thinking off for the slightest of micros, just enough for her to land a blow. Not being quick enough to block another jab aimed mainly at his disc, Beck's disc slid forward enough to slice again at the tattooed ex-Renegade, practically skinning the bottom of his right arm. He quickly jumped back and yelled out in agony. His arm was horrifically blue with damage that was painfully worse than it looked.

"I hate Programs who are frauds. Make others look guilty. Lie to others," she spoke again, her voice starting to fill with more hatred. The look in her eyes would have set him ablaze if their volcanic lava anger could.

Looking down at his corroded arm, he knew if he stayed he'd be derezzed, the Grid wouldn't be saved, and Tron would see he defeat as a weakness. Though the last thought was unavoidable he knew his first two were more important at the moment. Taking a step back to start his retreat, his foot was greeted with a searing hot pain as a disc grazed the side of it. He instantly fell to his knee, attempting to keep pressure off the foot as the new burning registered in his mind. Looking up, he saw Paige retrieving her disc from the air with ease and stalking over to him. It was obvious she didn't plan to let him escape.

"I will derez you for what you did to Beck," she promised, her eyes and body still asserting her righteous fury that was somehow in control. Knowing he didn't have the upper hand as usual, he kept his mouth shut and stood up, prepared to fight with his last bit.

Starting with another thrust, the green circuited flashed forward. Her attack was deflected with enormous force and almost caused her to lose grip of her disc but still managed to follow through with her off-hand and scrape the edge of her love's disc into Cyrus's chest. He let out a small grunt but managed to back away again as the another blue scar ran across his body.

"You can't bring him back! Killing me will change nothing!" he barked. He hoped in fear that he could stop her somehow.

"It'll stop you from doing it to someone else!" she shot back with more force. Throwing her disc, she moved forward waiting for Cyrus as he recovered from the dodge of the easy attack. When he was moving back to face her, her other disc was already in his path and gouged into his left shoulder. She lifted her disc upward, pulling part of the voxels with it, and kicked his abdomen to have him go flying away. With his disc flown from his grasp, his severely damaged form laid crumpled on the floor as she walked over, snatching her disc from the air as she felt a little sense of resolution filling within her. The Program that had caused the most pain to the one she loved was at her mercy. She would not fail to bring him a slow, torturous death as she made him endure the pain he caused on her mechanic and the other Programs he hurt or killed. When she was near enough she could hear and see him laughing softly as he stared out at nothing.

"You think I haven't already set my plans in motion already? The Grid will see th-" he couldn't finish as Paige rammed one of her heavy boots onto his throat. She grinned cruelly as she watched him squirm and struggle to breathe. His hands were wrapped around the footwear trying in vain to remove the object obscuring the air reaching his lungs. Making sure to keep her victim alive she lifted her foot and continued to lap in his desperate state while he gourmandized air.

"I could care less about your 'plans' to destroy the Grid. You won't be making it back alive," she menacingly spat. Her gaze now looked down at him with disgust and an almost haughty intensity, yet she was anything but arrogant. The darker skinned Program had leveled out his breathing as he returned her look through half shut eyes of pain and spite.

"What I care about is making you feel the pain that you caused Beck," she muttered in hate, remembering the scars on his wrists.

"Paige, Wait!" came a familiar feminine voice from behind. Taking a step back from her captive, the former commander looked back to see a cyan haired mechanic walking over with two masked Programs tailing her.

"I don't have time for this Mara!" she called out to the approaching girl.

"You can't derez him! We need him alive," Mara ignored the woman's irritated tone and walked over to look at the injured Cyrus.

"Do you know what he's done? Do you realize what he did to Beck?!" Paige exclaimed. The other two formed around the downed Program and removed their visors to reveal a familiar face and a completely new one.

"I know. But we need him…" the female mechanic said with regret.

"Need him?" the growl of a question came. "Need him for what?" the cloaked woman spat hotly, still not seeing the need for potentially the most dangerous Program on the Grid.

"Paige," Zed spoke from her side across of Cyrus's now unconscious body. "We need to know what he's been planning. Beck's the only Program who knew what happened and he never explained what it was," he explained firmly. Paige only gave him an agitated snarl in response.

"Paige," Mara gathered her attention again. "Please, come with us," she pleaded desperately, her expression that of a bleeding heart.

"I'm sorry but who is this?" the third Defiance member spoke up suddenly.

"Link, this is Paige… Beck's, um, ex-girlfriend," Zed introduced awkwardly, feeling the joke he wanted to start to be in bad taste.

"Beck was dating someone?" the lean mechanic asked in confusion.

"Yes… she was the Commander in the army when they were dating," Zed whispered to his companion but due to the silence of the rooftop they were still heard by the other two. The one being talked about rolled her eyes in annoyance as their stupidity and insensitivity blared brightly.

"That Paige?!" Link exclaimed in a hushed voice which was far louder than Zed's whisper.

"Yes, that Paige. Now they call me Doctor of Death. Want to know anything else?" Paige exploded, her tolerance snapping. She looked back to Mara with a fed up expression and was about to leave when the mechanic called her name again.

"Look, I know you don't really like us, but-"

"I never said I didn't like you," the medic commented curtly.

"Then come back with us! I want to talk to you. I want us to be... friends," Zed's girlfriend begged once more.

"Friends? We're in a war Mara. I don't have the luxury to have friends,"

"You're lying! Think about Beck, you were friends with him and you were at war with the Renegade," Mara reasoned with dangerous facts, facts that were undoubtedly volatile for the Doctor.

"That was before Clu, I-"

"You have friends Paige! We're your friends! Trust us! Trust me," Paige squeezed her eyes shut as she took a deep breath to actually let herself think. In the back of her head she could feel the disc modification tingling, telling her to attack, a route to a rage that would overcome her. She killed the tantalizing notion without hesitation. It was effortless to stop the callings and manipulations of the disc mod when all it continued to do was call out for anger. With her head clear she considered Mara's request. Really considered it.

She was tired. Exhausted. The long cycles of running around killing sentries and Black Guards only to come back to a empty hideout and empty bed did nothing to restore energy.

She was lonely. Isolated. The cycles of hearing Beck's voice in her ears had made her start to lose her sanity, which was already in jeopardy but in some weird twisted way was helping keeping her together.

She was scared. Terrified. What was she supposed to do? How long would killing guards, soldiers, and maybe one cycle Clu, keep the pain at bay?

She was aching. Pained. Everything in her life now hurt. New scars were growing and deepening within her. Scars so deep, death itself could only compare.

As much as she wanted to say no, wanted to tell them she was strong enough without them, that she didn't need help, her mind, body, and soul cried out for peace. Peace that she knew was standing right before her. In front of her bloodshot eyes was her refuge from the war, a sanctuary where she could let her burden be shared.

 _Go with them, keep them safe for me, Paige._ Again his voice filled her hearing with ghostly winds. It was the last push she needed.

"Alright, I'll go," she conceded softly. With the words came a flooding sense of relief, and a hug. She laughed as Mara gave her a comforting bear hug and was clearly fighting back tears as straggled breaths came from her. Reluctantly, she put an arm around the emotional mechanic and rubbed her back slowly.

"Thank you," the girl whispered.

* * *

"Nice place," Paige commented as they entered into the main room of the hideout in the Outlands.

While Mara had taken Paige to the hideout in the Outlands after making a quick stop at Paige's own hideout, Zed and Link had called others to help escort the unconscious Cyrus to the base in the coliseum. Thinking it best to keep Cyrus away from the hideout, they worked out it'd be safer because of the prison cells within the stadium.

"Come on, let's get you settled," Mara said with a small smile.

"When do I get to meet the lovely members of the Uprising?" the Doctor joked, giving her companion a one sided smirk.

"Later. Hurry up, I want to talk," the other woman said urgently but with a comfortable friendliness. Complying to the request, Paige followed after the jogging Defiance member and was soon enough in a large circular room. At the far end she could see a large cylindrical tube filled with an odd bluish white gel. It was shocking to see something familiar to her, enough to make her stop mid stride and double check herself to make sure she wasn't imagining things.

"What is it?" Mara asked curiously, having noticed her pause.

"Why does Tron have one of these?" Paige asked with her gaze focused on the healing chamber.

"Long story, come on. We have more important things to talk about," Mara whined, taking the medic's hand and dragging her to a spot next to the chamber where a room was. It was very out of place to say the least but she soon found herself entering the mid sized room to find a table, a bed, and a projection screen on the opposite side.

"This is Tron's room, but he's not in town so how about you sleep here for now?" the light blue eyed girl offered hurriedly.

"Alright, Mara. What do you want to talk about?" Paige asked forward, starting to grow bored of the mechanic's rush. Mara, who was adding the new information to the main frame via the tabletop and her disc, looked up with wide eyes.

"I want to know what happened to Beck," she asked without thinking. When she reanalyzed her words she covered her mouth with her hands and gave a horrified expression. The sigh that escaped Paige was not one of sorrow, or guilt, but one of annoyance as she knew the topic was going to be brought up eventually.

"It's fine, Mara," Paige reassured lightly, placing her Monome, picture, and extra disc on the table before lying down on the bed. There was a moment of silence as the two thought about what to say. Right before Mara could apologize, the cloaked medic began her retelling of Beck's tragic fate. By the time she had caught up to where they were at that very moment, Mara had bawled her eyes out multiple times, half the time she would join in and they would both just sit next to each other in a tight cocoon of each other's arms letting their emotions free. It was something she had never experienced before, the need for ones comfort or support, aside from Beck, who had his own special place for things she had never done before.

"Look at us… we probably look terrible," Mara joked with a laugh that gave way to a half spasm of her lungs as she still hadn't completely stopped crying yet.

"Who cares. Your boyfriend's not here, and no one is going to see me in here," Paige replied with just as much energy as she whipped her noise with a tissue, her own crying having finished a while ago.

"How do you know Zed's my boyfriend?" Mara inquired with suspicion.

"Beck told me more about you two the cycle we met," the older woman chuckled softly.

"What'd he say?" Mara asked deadpanned, fearing the worst. The medic couldn't help but let out another laugh at her friend's tone.

"Something along the lines 'They're both head over heels for each other, they just don't know it'," she recited in a bad impression of the lovable mechanic. Mara only groaned in response and cradled her face in her palms. Paige laughed at her response and hugged the girl.

"He always right. Makes me mad how he knew," Mara mumbled into her palms. They fell into a comfortable silence, allowing their emotions and feeling settle.

"Most of the time," Paige commented lightly, gaining her a quirked eyebrow from Mara.

"When we first started dating he couldn't stop seeing me as Tesler's Commander," she answered the young mechanic's question.

"Did he ever stop seeing that?" she asked quizzically. Only a fraction of a nano later did her mind catch up to her mouth and was able to answer the question.

"Yes. Our last couple of dates he proved himself capable of reading someone," Paige answered sweetly.

"Hard to imagine him dating… you," Mara pointed out sheepishly, deciding to test the limits of her new companion's humor.

"Me too. But that's what makes him, him," Paige agreed completely. There was a comfortable silence between the two as they reminisced in their own memories of the savvy mechanic.

"Anything else you want to know?" Paige broke the silence after the time had passed.

"If you saw him again, what would you do?" The question had caught her off-guard and she had to take a micro to think about it.

"I'd make sure he felt the pain I've been in," she answered confidently, making Mara turn to her in bewilderment.

"How would you do that?"

"Well, between you and me, I'm a much better fighter than he is," she whispered conspiratorially.

"So… you're just going to beat him up?" Mara asked as if she still didn't understand.

"Yes. But I'd tell him I love him right after," she spoke softer and stared at his identity disc on the table.

"Well… it's definitely you," Mara admitted quietly.

"Thanks," she answered dryly.

"Hey, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about that one time,"

"What time?"

"When we ran into you outside the coliseum,"

"Oh, it's fine,"

"No, please. I want to apologize. When I saw you, when I saw Beck's disc, everything just went red for a second. I don't lose control like that,"

"It's alright Mara,"

Right after she said finished talking there was a knocking at the door. Mara called out letting whoever it was know it was okay to come in. Walking in was a familiar brown haired bulky Program who Paige had encountered by the coliseum.

"Paige!" Gav cried in shock. Her expression went flaccid hearing his almost horrified reaction to her presence.

"Are you always so loud?" She bit back menacingly. Quickly, he recovered and calmed his racing circulator.

"No. You just surprised me..." He trailed off as he focused closely on the two women sitting on the bed. "I can go if you guys want to keep talking," he offered gently, his empathy taking over his front most thoughts.

"It's fine, I was just about to go get you," Mara sighed out as she stood. "Let's go, I know Paige is exhausted," at her words the medic raised an eyebrow before letting the realization that she really was faint come back to her.

"Alright, we'll talk later," Gav nodded politely before heading back out of the room with Mara right behind. Once left alone, Paige laid back down on the bed with heavy eyelids forcing themselves closed. She fought their weight but soon succumbed to the relieving dreamweaves of sleep.

* * *

The cold winds of the Outlands blasted across the uneven rocky lands, lifting lose dirt and small peebles and throwing them off high ledges to deep dark ravines. The rough edges of the mountains outlined from the darker backdrop of nearly black cloudy skies. In the opposite direction, Tron City shined with tall skyscrapers and search lights. The city appearing peaceful in the atmosphere of the Outlands, not telling the dark reign that was controlling it.

The great hero Tron was focusing more on the ground than the scenery of tall structures, his eyes scanning for evidence of a path. It wasn't long that he found what he was looking for, having tracked Programs in worse conditions with less information and direction to go on. Keeping low to the ground, he followed the path until it lead into a narrow tunnel near the middle of the mountain incredibly far from the city. Staying vigilant, he flew around the area and canvased it, making absolutely sure he wasn't followed and that he had followed the right tracks. Though, he kept his distance when he saw the carved out room near the top of the elevation, he knew who ever was there was aware of his presence.

Feeling a direct approach his best option, he flew toward the small landing that jutted out from the room and prepared a tight landing. If anything, his ship would simply fly into the room and destroy any traps that were probably in place, but as expected from the Program, his ship derezzed when he neared the cliff edge and he landed with a roll. Standing slowly, he made his way into the darkened room, passing through the thin digital net that separated the cold air of the Outlands from the warmer inside air. When his foot found purchase on the plastic tiles on the floor, the room lit up and Tron started to feel exposed as he couldn't sense any blaring threat.

"Hello?" He called out tentatively, his voice unfiltered by his helmet. He froze when he heard a quiet footstep towards the corridor to his left.

"It can't be…" he heard a distant voice come from the direction. A voice he knew all too well.

"Flynn, is that you?" Tron once again called out, hoping in vain his ears hadn't played tricks on him.

"Tron…" a robed man appeared out of the corner of the hall way, followed by a taller woman who wore the regular skin tight black suit and armor. Tron immediately collapsed his helmet and started to pace over the aged man who met him halfway and embraced him in a firm hug.

"It's good to see you, man," Flynn stated in a breathlessly joyous tone. The two broke apart and both reanalyzed the situation they were in, making sure it was real.

"It's good to see you too, old friend," Tron said in a calm reassuring tone.

"I thought you were dead! How'd you escape Clu?" the User asked as the third person in the room slowly drifted over to the two and placed her disc on her back.

"I didn't. He held me prisoner, until I was rescued. I've been hiding out on the edge of the Grid since," Tron summarized nicely.

"Jeez, you don't know how happy I am to see you again," Flynn voiced relieved.

"Hello, I'm Quorra," the only female of the room bluntly introduced herself, sticking her hand out for Tron to shake. He took it after a small hesitant moment, as he was caught off guard by the Program's odd demeanor.

"Ah, yes! Sorry. Tron meet Quorra. Quorra, Tron," Flynn introduced the two before taking a step back to allow Quorra to form a small triangle between the three of them.

"How do you know Flynn?" Tron asked, curious to hear of Flynn's trusted companion.

"He saved me in the Outlands," she said.

"Anon was able to keep her safe through most of it," Flynn added, which sparked Tron's interest.

"I'm glad he didn't get repurposed like the others. Where is he?" Tron asked figuring the Program to be nearby. When the other two expressions' worsened he figured the answer.

"I see," he spoke softly, feeling his own sorrow for the mute system monitor.

"We can catch up more over dinner, come, we were just about to prepare to eat," Flynn said shifting the mood and conversation to a less depressing topic.

While Flynn was making dinner, Quorra had taken the liberty to show Tron their cozy home. Walking past the books and asking if he knew any of the readings, which he didn't, showing the fireplace that was lit with a small blue flame, the bedrooms, and ending it out on the cliffside edge where he had originally entered the place from. Before she had the chance to show him the lower garage and the other section of the carved out mountain, Flynn had called them to the table stating he was done with cooking the food. As they all settled into a seat, Tron noticed the plates in front of them, along with the food in the center of the table. While Tron was no stranger to the User's need for energy in the source of 'food' he had never had an opportunity to actually eat the so called substance. As Flynn piled on what appeared to be a white chunky blob sitting in a small pool of yellow liquid, Tron wondered if it was truly safe to consume it.

"You don't have to eat it if you don't want to, Tron," Flynn commented with a small laugh when he saw the worried expression of his friend. "It won't hurt you, but I don't think you'd like this kind of chicken marinade, Alan was never a fan," he went on cutting up a slice of the chicken on his plate and eating it.

"Right…" Tron trailed of as he used a fork to grab one of the three chicken masses and placed it on his plate. Quorra seemed content with not eating and simply drank her wine glass of light blue energy.

"So, do you want to start first or should I?" Flynn asked, looking to the Child Basic with a smile.

"You first, I think mine's longer," Tron said. Kevin nodded before catching the Program up on the events he went through after he ran from Clu. It wasn't much. To put it simply, he had just hid off the Grid. He told him how he watched the ISO's being slaughtered in their homes when not too long ago they had let an ISO become a co-administrator for the system.

After Tron was caught up, he told the two about his own story. How he was carted off by Clu to be reprogrammed only to be saved by a sentry who apparently retained his mind through repurposing. Then they found their way to Argon where Tron trained him until ultimately having to trap him in his own world with Able's help. It wasn't much longer until the Occupation came along and he found Beck. Flynn asked why he decided to take another Program under his wing and was satisfied with the answer he was given. Tron told him how he saw the determination in the boy's eyes, how he fought for his friends and his foes retelling the tale of Beck and Paige on the island. He had made a mistake with Cyrus only because he had saved him and need his help, Beck was a choice he made purely out of the young mechanic's own drive and personality.

"But he's not perfect…" Tron said in a melancholy tone. "He started to see that Commander he saved. After he stopped a train full of Programs from dying without the mask, they started to see each other,"

"Really? How close did they get to each other?" Flynn asked softly.

"Very. If I didn't know better I'd say he was in love with her,"

"Talk about Romeo and Juliet…" the middle aged User muttered to himself.

"If things turned out differently I'm sure he would have told her everything. He would have given up everything just to try and make her join us," Tron said bleakly.

"What happened?" Quorra asked intently listening to the story, finding it far more interesting than the books she had read.

And so he continued his tale of the Super Recognizer and how Cutler had been reprogrammed to seek out Tron and repurpose him as Clu originally planned. But as usual, Beck had come in just at the right time to save him before that could happen. The Super Recognizer crashed and the Uprising began, and turned into the Defiance. The joy didn't last long however, as it was only a few cycles later when everything went terribly wrong.

"Tron?" Quorra asked gently when the Program had stopped and his head slumped down.

"It was my own fault really. I knew he wasn't ready but he seemed so sure of himself… I saw myself in his eyes, those same eyes that wanted to save everyone from Clu and wanted to free the Grid…" Tron mumbled in grief.

"What happened?" Flynn asked gently, hoping to coax the pained Program on.

"He was killed. By the same person he loved. I should have seen it, he was exhausted. I shouldn't have left him alone with her…" Tron trailed off again as he was finally vocalizing his bottle up grief. "She killed him and by the time I went back to find him it was far too late. She was just sitting there, holding his disc. She figured out it was him. She learned everything about him…" Tron said softly.

"It's not your fault, Tron. Beck knew what he was getting into," Flynn comforted.

"I know, but it still doesn't mean I couldn't have stopped him," Tron let out a sigh before deciding to move on. "After that, she took off with his disc. I talked to her when we ran into each other on one of the command ships. Her anger is all she's holding onto right now, it's the only thing keeping her sane," he explained. Tron finished his story by telling them he had followed Clu back to Tron City and then found out they were looking for the two, which led him to their current position.

"I see…" Flynn thought it over as Quorra was feeling it to be her turn to talk. She quickly explained the time she had been on the Grid to see to Radia at Tron City, only to be stopped by the sentries. Then she recalled the corrupt Program, Abraxas and how Anon stopped his attack on the ISO's. She witnessed Clu attack Flynn but ran away before she could see Tron's fate, and how she met up with Anon right afterwards. They went to see Zuse before his club was destroyed by Clu's forces. Using Zuse's help they went to Arjia City to tell Radia of what Clu had done only to be beaten by the Program. Luckily, they had convinced her that Clu was lying. At that point Anon and Quorra had become separated, but it was already too late for her as Clu had started his obliteration of ISO's. The two reunited at Arjia City only to watch as Clu had Abraxas derez Radia. Anon convinced her to run while he dealt with Abraxas. She watched as the city collapsed and felt the utter hopelessness of her situation. She took a solar sailor to the distant cities off in the corners of the Grid and managed to find Ada who had escaped from the purge as well. They were safe for a little while as Clu's forces hadn't reach out so far yet but were constantly on the move knowing he wasn't far behind. It wasn't until they made it to Carbonite City where they were finally caught up with.

"Unfortunately, I had to knock out Paige before we-"

"Paige?" Tron interjected.

"Yeah, I believe that was her name," Quorra answered baffled by the sudden interest.

"Can I see what she looks like?" he asked urgently. Quorra shrugged in response before she pulled out her disc.

"Sure, I don't see why it's so important," she said as she projected a clear image of the medic. Tron's eyes widened in shock as the image of the former commander appeared before him.

"That's her," he breathed out, trying to wrap his head around the fact the two had met.

"Her who?" Flynn asked.

"That's the commander," having only heard of one commander so far the two figured this was the same person who Tron spoke of when he mentioned his Renegade.

"So this is who Beck fell head over heels for," Flynn said with a sly grin, as if it made things much clearer. The ISO turned off the image and returned her disc to the dock.

"What does this mean?" she asked.

"Nothing. I just can't believe you two have met," the Program answered. "Sorry, please continue," he urged, but lingered on the thought that Paige had met an ISO.

The ISO continued telling her tale. After fleeing Carbonite City, the pair started to back track and headed back towards the center of Grid figuring the further they went outward the less chance they'd be captured with the army so close behind. They kept their heads down as they retraced there steps and managed to make it back to Tron City. Sadly, one guard had spotted the two and asked to see their identity discs. They ran away and escaped for a short time stealing a Recognizer, but while they were flying over the Outlands Clu's army had caught up to them. It wasn't long before they were brought down. Quorra had survived the crash landing and found a cave to hide in as the site was investigated. When the soldiers had left, she quickly looked for Ada but couldn't find any evidence she was alive. After wondering the Outlands for a few days, she collapsed. It was then that Flynn had found her and saved her.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Tron condoled.

"Thank you," she muttered back.

"Well, now that we're all caught up and dinner is finished," Flynn called out while giving Quorra a irritated look, he proceeded to stand up and went for the main dish that still had one chicken breast sitting in the marinade.

"I'm sure you're tired from your journey, why don't I show you to your room?" the ISO perkily offered, standing with her eyes gleaming with joy.

"Quorra, don't forget, it's your turn to do dishes," Flynn called from the other room he had entered, no doubt the kitchen. Tron heard a muffled curse from the woman as they walked down the hallway to a room.

* * *

"This _Uprising_ or _Defiance_ whatever you're calling it, do you really think it can stop Clu?"

.

.

.

"It's the only thing we can count on,"

.

"Even without Beck? You put a lot of faith into this one guy it sounds,"

.

"I don't know… He was my second chance, at more than just this Defiance. It'll be hard without him, but I don't give up,"

.

.

"Well, you might not have to fight without him,"

.

.

.

"What?"

* * *

AN: Hello everyone. Sorry about the wait for those of you who are interested and following the story thus far. I'd excuse myself with life and things, but I just lost interest for a bit.

I'm surprised how close I came to finishing this chapter without uploading it, granted I think I wanted to add more to certain areas but I've lost since forgotten what I wanted to put where, and most of whats happening in my own bloody story.

Comments on the chapter, I hope you guys don't mind that I basically killed off Cyrus. Honestly, I hated him in Uprising but for all the right reasons. His appearance was that of a true overpowering villain. Always shows up at the worst time, has the most evil plans, actions, and decisions for others, and this factor of fear and helplessness when facing him. For months I kept wondering, where the hell are they going with him? Will he ever die? Can anyone beat him? Yeah, Tron could seeing that he's healed but I feel he's more of Beck's problem and nemesis more than Tron's, so it'd only make sense that Beck be the one to do it. Didn't happen in this story lol. I figured the power device was supposed to be given back to Beck and he would kill Cyrus because he couldn't control the anger and power. It would lead to a emotional and groundbreaking episode for Beck as he's stern on no killing, change up the character a little and maybe even break him to a point where he'd go to Paige and in a sense break her world with the reveal of him being the Renegade. I thought it'd be genius.  
I wanted to make it more emotional for Paige but figured what I had was enough for her joining the Defiance finally.

Probably have a few grammar and italics issues as I only went through this to put the italics back in.

Thank you for your patience, and I hoped you enjoyed!

-Rose's Requiem


	17. The Gray of Mercy (Arc II 3)

The Gray Of Mercy

* * *

"You have his disc right?" the cyan haired mechanic asked with an underlined tone of anxiety.

"Right here," Zed answered while lifting the disc in his off hand.

Illuminated by the bright red of the prison cell they were in front of, their faces were tinted red and held more shadows and contrasts than normal. They stared at the man held against the back wall of the enclosure, his body limp and eyes shut. On close inspection it was easy to see how built his body was, designed for combat and destruction. While the white coding that tattooed his face and other locations of direct skin were still unknown as to their origin and purpose, it was safe to assume they were there by the desire of the owner.

"What are we going to do with him?" Mara wondered to her companion, her voice filled with the emotions going through their hearts, fear, worry, and sorrow.

"We'll keep him hear until Tron gets back," was the answer she got.

"But what if he escapes! What if-" her rant was cut short by Zed's comforting hand on her shoulder.

"He won't, there's no way he can," Zed reassured his partner.

Looking at her he empathized her worry and stress. While she was excited to lead the fight against Clu, it was stressful. Tron had only instructed one thing, but that didn't stop Mara from asking Gavistan and others to help her plan an attack on a few key installations the Occupation held. It wasn't until she was about to announce it to everyone did she realize the stress that accompanied the lives of others. Her compassion for life made it extremely difficult to cope with fact that she had derezzed soldiers and because of their actions, they had already lost two of their own in their first siege. War was costly, and Mara was finding that out the hard way. Only with the help of Zed, Gavistan, and recently Paige, was she managing as well as she was now.

As Gavistan had already been through war, he was more than experienced with the feelings. A soldier of bloodshed, his grief and pain only magnified by the losses of fellow men and women who fought along side and fought for. Only a few Programs called it a war, others called it genocide, and _they_ called it a cleansing. Gavistan would have liked to call it a war, but the few battles there were to save the ISO's were failures. The only Programs to survive were the basics captured at the end. Luckily, he had managed to escape and free a few of the others as well.

Paige managed the best for obvious reasons, but still held a great weight on her shoulders from her rampage after losing Beck. Zed on the other hand had no experience. Like Mara, he grew up without having to fight in a war, a safe life that people like Gavistan and Paige fought for. But unlike his counterpart, he found strength where she had none. In the times she needed him to be strong because she was weak, he hardened himself, compartmentalized the thoughts, and looked at her with a warming smile because as long as she was there, he'd be okay. As long as she was with him, she could be his strength.

"I'll just hunt him down if he does anything," a voice from their right called out. The two looked over to find Paige walking down the long open corridor of the prisons. Her heels clacking against the floor as she glided smoothly over to them. Her hair had grown a considerable amount since the fall of the Super Recognizer and cascaded a few centimeters past her shoulders. Her state looked loads better since her joining of the Defiance. For once in a few mylas she was able to get some true rest and recover, bothered by pleasant dreams of Beck teasing her and whispering loving but forgotten words into her ear.

"There's always that," Zed picked up in a light tone.

"We have his disc, is there any reason to keep him alive?" Paige asked flatly, glaring at the prisoner.

"We don't know what he's set in motion. We might need him to stop it," Zed answered in a dark tone.

"And how will you convince him to stop it? How do you negotiate with a Program whose only want in this world is its destruction?"

"Then we find a way to stop him," Mara spoke up causing her friends to glance at her. "We'll find a way. It's the least we can do for those we've lost,"

* * *

Mara and Zed returned to Outlands hideout while Paige decided to stay at the coliseum and continue watching on Cyrus. In a few pectros they were going to strike a blockade the Occupation had installed to force industrial workers into longer shifts.

A few cycles after Tron's departure, Zed along with a few of the other mechanics had announced the creation of a new vehicle; one they hoped would make ground assaults a bit safer. A four wheeled low riding car with no windshield, semi exposed rear engine and suspension components, with a moderately yet lightweight armor material that covered the front to the mid section where the driver would sit. Aerodynamically genius, the Mono, a single seater that's designed for hit and run operations, or as Zed refers to it "Boom and Zoom". *Google BAC Mono to see this car*

Their small size make them hard targets, especially with how low to the ground they are, the only downside is that Zed had yet to figure a way to compress them into a baton, often the hardest part of any vehicle construction.

Currently, a majority of the Defiance was in the lower garage of the hideout where they were preparing for their next assault with the Monos.

"Link, make sure Omni's Mono is set correctly, I noticed the right side looked a little off,"

"Here, Bartik, try this one, I make it a little bigger for your seat,"

"No! Not that one Link, that one!" Zed ordered sharply, pointing at a Mono behind Link.

Mara watched in mirth as Zed essentially took leadership of the Defiance. It wasn't the first time something like this happened. Back in their younger days, he would become the leader of their little group of four whenever he had created something, usually involving mechanics on a vehicle. His projects gave him a confidence boost and influenced him the way confidence does to most people. It was one of the things Mara enjoyed about him. While she had a steady stream of determination and boldness, it could be broken and wavered in hard times. Zed on the other hand usually found burst of courage and power from his own creations, the strength and concentration of it unbreakable to virtually anything.

"Mara! What are you standing there staring for? Is your Mono ready?" Zed's booming voice broke her from the thoughts she had been steeped in.

"Yeah, it is," she shot back, cocking her hip and narrowing her eyes at him. She liked him when he was… confident, but she'd be derezzed if she let him boss over her without some sort of stubbornness.

"Want to go over the plans one more time? We're about finished with final prep," Mara opened her mouth to spit a sassy remark, but closed it on second consideration, instead nodding curtly. His tone had calmed down a lot and she figured he felt a bit awkward that his mood could have offended her.

 _Zed sometimes… you can be extremely thick headed._

Making her way to the front of the long garage, she pulled up her maps and presentations from earlier on her disc.

"Alright everyone, just a quick run over. We'll be making our way in from the main south entrance to Argon. From there, we split into five teams and head to the refining factory in the Industrial Zone. While the east entrance is closer, we're taking precautions to not give away where we're hiding, all they know is that we're in the Outlands, and that's all they're going to know.

Groups one and two will be using a mix of disintegration and shrapnel explosives, four and five will use high compact incendiary and fragment grenades. The first run will be used to break the containers and factors open so that second group's explosives will cause extreme if not total destructive damage.

Group three will be doing their best to remove as many tanks and copters from the area so the other groups can make their escape.

This target is the Occupations main refinery for the fuel used in their large warships and jets, without this, their fleets in the sky will have to land or return back to Tron City for fuel. Gavistan predicts the small carriers and destroyers will land in the flat lands on the edge of Purgos, while the larger vesicles will return to Tron City. If this happens, our next attack will be on the grounded fleet. But we'll discuss that at another time," Mara concluded.

"Everyone, make one last check for weapons and suit up, we leave in three," Gavistan shouted.

* * *

The outpost was empty. It's vast space no longer cluttered with parts, mechanics, lifts, and Monos being assembled or tuned for their specific drivers. It was odd. In her short amount of time in the Defiance's safe haven in the mountains, Paige had quickly become accustomed to the bustling of the members working vigorously towards their righteous goals. With them gone on their assault, Paige, who backed down from requests to join from Mara, walked in the open of the holo room. Her eyes wondered over the long stretched the unending sea of converging horizons as the top and bottom floor seemingly went on forever, but in honesty, were displayed by the holo room to do so. With the lights on the endless room seemed less terrifying, but with the lights off, as she had them now, the horizon seemed more of an abyss. As she stared, she recalled a saying she had heard.

 _If one gazes into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze back._

She wondered how much of it was true. It wasn't that she was unaware, but just unsure of how far she had fallen. She had taken others lives before, believing that with their death, others would be spared. Something she believed, but could never be proven.

Beck vowed to not take another's life. But she knew he felt as guilty as a murderer for the deaths that were indirectly caused by his small pebble on top of the mountain. One pebble, deciding to be carried by his winds and fell down the mountain. The gravity of his weight enough to uplift other pebbles and rocks, which in turn, caused more rocks and stones to be moved by his actions. Stones and rocks broke, but continued to move bigger elements. Eventually, massive boulders were crashing down the mountain breaking both the summit and the smashing rocks. One pebble, in the end could, move the side of a mountain.

All from a man who wanted to preserve an ecosystem, both the good and the bad segments.

Even her. A miss guided wrecking ball, one tragedy away from unleashing hell on her enemies, destroying everything in her path, and possibly herself, just as the boulders on the mountain. She was still tumbling, and she had definitely started to crack, but was she broken? Was she past the point of repair? Was she simply a weapon, a tool, to be used for destruction?

 _Do you really believe that, medic?_

She let out a sigh while lifting Beck's disc she had been holding for her entire introspection.

"Yes, I do believe that,"

 _Look again, do you only see an abyss?_

Confused and surprised at what direction Beck's voice had taken, she looked closely at the holo room's abyss. Cool dark gray. That's the color she'd use to describe it. And with a few minutes past she didn't see anything.

 _See it?_

With his words, she saw a brief movement. A body. It only happened right before she blinked. The outlines of a Program stood a few dozen meters from her.

 _See me?_

"But how!?"

His response came after a long pause.

 _Because we both share the same ideals. What's within you, is within me._

"Clearly not if I was willing to derez others,"

 _You were forced to. I was always given the option to spare others. You-_

"Killed hundreds, if not thousands of soldiers! You can't excuse my actions Beck!" she cut him off in a shout.

 _No, I can't. But in this war, their lives would most likely have been lost to someone else._

"That's not something Beck would say…" she muttered darkly.

 _Sadly, it is. I know you've seen it. You've seen me behind the mechanic. You've seen me behind the Renegade. You know more than I do what_ this _does to Programs._ His feelings on _this_ were undoubtedly everything Clu had begun after Flynn's removal, the oppression, the deaths, and the loss of everything even remotely free.

 _If I hadn't died, then it would have been me in your position._ She noted how he hadn't mentioned it was her who killed him.

"Are you saying if I hadn't-"

 _No. I didn't mean it that way. I meant if I were still alive, I would have passed my threshold for the burden. Whether Tron would pick up from where I had fallen or not doesn't really matter, but I'm sure he would have._

 _But it was going to happen regardless, the stress, the lies, all the weight of being the Renegade and watching helplessly as dozens of Programs were sent to the games for no reason other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time._

 _Leaving Mara and Zed in the dark and leaving them and my job to fight such an impossibly large force by myself. Yeah, Tron was there, but he was only for training and planning out what he couldn't do himself. And he was rarely a lending ear. I can recall only a couple of times where he was the friend I needed to talk to, and it was for far too short._

 _I had no one. I fought cycle after cycle. Everything I did for the people of this city, but only for my actions to be countered and thrown in my face as Tesler sought my deresolution._

 _Until I met you, Paige. I could escape this war, if only for a pectro. You and I shared the same burden. The same pain. It wasn't nearly enough to stop the breakdown, but it was… incredibly enlightening and quickly becoming one of the main reasons I kept moving forward._

 _I know you've put me on a pedestal, but I'm no greater than you are Paige. The only thing that would have saved me was you. Without lies, no masks, and more time._

Paige had listened to every word intently mesmerized to them. Only a few micros after he had stopped talking had her vision acknowledged her eyes were still open and not seeing. She blinked away the blurriness and found she had crumpled to her knees, with silent tears sliding down her cheeks for the uncountable time. The back of her hands were lying on the ground while her body was limp and standing upright by pure luck.

Beck's disc laid about a meter in front of her, out of her grasp.

 _When I was with you, I felt invincible, and completely vulnerable at the same time._

"I was the same," Paige blinked, still shell shocked. "I never felt so free and alive before I met you, even at the hospital,"

 _I'm still with you. Even if you don't believe this is me, I'm still here. I always will be._ At these words, Paige started shaking as her lungs convulsed and her tears started rolling down again.

"This isn't what I wanted! I wanted you next to me! To hold me, to lift me when I was sad! I-I wanted… I wanted to love you! I don't want you just being a voice in my head!" she wailed, her will completely shattered again. Strangled wet cries echoed around the holo room, the effect making her feel more alone. The pain of her spasms in her chest went ignored as she was consumed by the fear of being alone. Losing more control, she slowly rolled and was on her side with her limbs oddly placed as she, for once in her life, let the weight of everything crash completely and unfiltered down upon her, allowing it to wash over her and drown her.

 _Paige, you're not alone._ If she had been in a more consciously aware state, she would have probably tossed it off as her imagination, but when the warmth of someone's hand rested on her upper arm and began to gently caress her with soothing motion, she felt her body regain control of itself. She started breathing in large deep breaths. Slowly, she came back from her breakdown.

When she focused on the hand soothing her, it made her afraid to open her eyes feeling if she did it would break the illusion. Based on her conclusion, she squeezed her eyes shut a little harder and allowed her mind to relax.

"Feeling better?" Beck's voice asked, this time from outside her head. Instead of bolting towards him, she slowly turned to see him sitting cross-legged next to her, a soft smile adorning his face.

"You're-" she choked on her words and before she could finish her sentence, he had pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. His hand ran along her lower back as she half lay in his lap. It took her a moment before she broke from her shock to accept that he was in fact there and with her. Meekly moving her arms so that they found purchase on his back, she clung to him. What little strength she had was used to hold onto him as she nuzzled her head into his chest.

"You're really here," she managed to muffle. The low and deep vibrations of a chuckle were felt as much heard from Paige's position to his chest. His other hand that was snaked around her shoulders moved to her head and began to kneed and stroke her hair, occasionally stopping to massage her neck. His grip on her neck was firm, causing her to relax even more as reassurance shot through her once again. They stayed like that for what seemed to be hours.

"I'm afraid to move," Paige said after Beck has stopped his ministrations and simply held her.

"Afraid I'll be gone if you do?" he guessed.

"Yeah,"

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but at some point we'll have to let go and I'll have to go,"

While her instinct was to cry out and force him to stay, in the back of her mind she felt something that told her it was true. In return, she renewed her harden grip on his back, the fabric of the suit stretching and bunching up in her hands at risk of being torn.

Beck began his care again, running his hands seemingly everywhere. It wasn't long after that she felt him kiss the top of her head and it all stopped.

She woke to see she was still lying on her side on the holo room. Her tears had dried in her sleep and her body and become incredibly stiff. Propping herself up, her eyes wondered around to gain a sense of time and awareness. She was not privy to any obvious changes or clues as to how long she was asleep but figured it couldn't have been long.

Incredibly groggy, she stood to grab Beck's disc and left to her room. No thoughts came to her as she lay down on her bed and for the first time, found it wonderfully soft.

 _See you soon._ Beck's voice drifted to her. It was the final nudge she needed to let out a contented sigh and fell asleep peacefully.

* * *

"We're closing on the refinery!" Mara yelled at her squadron. Moving in a tight single file line through the streets, they moved with precise driving, only inches apart at times. Having a complicated and misleading route made for lots of turns and diversions, so when they finally entered the area around the refinery, it was sudden as they turned the bend of one road and found the massive structure and the area around it open.

Open being an odd word to use as the space that was between the other buildings and the factory was filled with tanks and platoons of soldiers. No doubt, Dyson was intelligent enough to realize the value of the factory. Along with the large troop amount stationed there, multiple anti-air guns and Light Copters were littered around the field, which is half the reason they had opted out of an aerial bombing. The other half was due to the increased air support already stationed over it. At least two carriers and their teams of support ships, jets, and other vehicles constantly swarmed the skies above.

"Look up ahead, it's the second and third group," one of Mara's members called out. The road they had turned onto was long and flat with an entrance that was perpendicular to it somewhere between Mara's group and the two a few hundred meters in front of her.

"Speed up!" Mara shouted back. Punching the throttle, the Monos bolted faster than they already were. The mechanic turned rebel could only smile childishly at her friend's creation, it was a great feeling to have the pressure of acceleration even at such a high speed.

The lights of the other groups were low off and hard to see, but she managed to keep track of them as they continued to near the entrance they were planning on entering from.

"Get ready! We'll be turning in five, four, three, two, one," Mara counted down, moving her car to the far end of the road for the best racing line. The moment she said one, she lurched her car in the direction of the factory and started straight for the factory.

The guards at the entrance were caught off guard as the Monos were painted black with minimal height and exposure to the light, thus making them incredibly hard to see, along with a muffler that suppressed the sound of the angry, yet tiny, 300 BHP engine. Before either of the soldiers at the control panels could react, they were on the ground as stunners high them and knocked them unconscious, courtesy of Mara.

Next, a disc from one of her group's Mono found it's way gliding through the control panel, disabling the lights that led to the core of the factory. Under the darkness no one would be seen or entering at all, buying the Defiance precious few nanos to get closer to the target without being fired upon.

"Stage one complete," Mara muttered as felt the g-force and air push harder with her increased speed.

At this point, all the groups would have entered the grounds and would be following behind her. Her energy circulated through her at an intoxicating rate. Her sight seemed to pick out small details in the dark with her pulse pounding, her ears focused and drowned out the sound of the wind whipping past her helmet, an odd sensation but still valued.

Part of her knew she was a thrill junkie, part of her knew it was dangerous and wished to suppress that side, but with the revolution, what was the point of not letting that side out?

 _Not a chance._ She snarled with a grin to herself.

Lights and alarms started going off a nano later and the few nanos bought by their well-executed entrance was up.

"Spread out as much as you can!" Mara commanded as she primed her first grenade, having no doubt the others weren't already doing the same.

Their tires screeched through the factory as they passed. Engineers and soldiers both watched as they blinked by, and didn't catch the small balls they flew at an equal speed into their areas. None of them would know the cause of their deresolution.

The first explosion was far enough behind that it sound like a low roaring thunder strike; the boom of a few dozen more going off followed it. A new alarm starting to blare overhead, obviously their explosives had managed to do some destructive force as predicted.

Occupation Light Bikes started to finally appear, which surprised Mara, as she hadn't figured them to react as quickly as they did. It had been literal nanos between the time they were found and the time they were halfway through the factory with explosions going off.

"Ram them!" she barked. The bike next to her stood, literally, no chance to her low center of gravity. Standing too tall and centered, the bike and its rider started to tumble onto her Mono, but soon hit the ground as the Mono pulled away. The bike turned back into a baton, as the rider slid for a few meters before smacking into a barrier similar to concrete with a resounding smack.

Mara only prayed his life would be spared in the destruction that was sure to come. Other riders had faired less fortunate having their heads derezzed with the impact to the ground, or being crushed by their bike flipping through the air.

It was expected, but never accepted. In fact, they weren't even sure how many of the workers and engineers at the factory were actual Occupation members and not just regular Programs managing to work for energy under the dominant thumb of their leaders.

She shook her head hoping to clear the thoughts. It was pointless to think of it now in the midst of an operation. Taking another hard turn, she continued her lead through the large maze of the factory. She hurled her last few bombs and could see the final turn that would complete the second stage of their plan.

Only as she rounded the last turn did she feel the ground-shaking explosion of the last group's incendiary grenades igniting the fuel. Stage two had been completed. Their last and most important stage: Escape.

"Everyone, scatter!" Mara shouted at the perfect moment before her was the horrifying sight of a wall of soldiers, tanks, and helicopters, the picture taking her breath away and causing time to slow.

The fraction of a nano she had to process her thoughts expanded to micros as her mind raced. Where had all the vehicles come from? What had happened to the third group? Was this the end for her and the others? Would she get to see Zed again? Had she failed Tron, Beck, Bodhi, Paige? Why had this happened to her, it wasn't fair!

The moment her anger spiked, the scene before her turned bright and explosive. Tanks turned into flashes of bright lights causing the tanks next to them to follow in a vicious chain reaction. Soldiers and sentries were seemingly vaporized in the heat of the light along with some of the helicopters becoming caught in some of the initial large explosions and others being taken down from the shrapnel. Shrapnel, which was also finding it's way towards the Defiance member's Monos.

"What in hell was that!?" one of her other drivers snarled in anger, obviously not happy with the fact he had to the idea of death sooner than he anticipated.

"Forget it! We need to get out of here! We need to head to the coliseum!" Mara ordered, though she was empathetic toward her member.

Just as she let her panic settle, it was stirred when the smoke of the wreckage in front of them was pushed aside and a group of Light Copters came through the holes their propellers made. Their search lights and guns automatically targeting the spreading Monos.

Lines of lights rained down on their cars only barely missing them. Thankfully, the plumes of smoke that the helicopters had pushed away with their blades were spread around the open field, not completely dispersing, and provided a cover for the Defiance to weave through.

Mara almost laughed as she looked around herself. It was easy for her to compare her current nightmare to a few times at the club. Lights wising by, her friends mixed and mingled on the foggy dance floor, the mechanic herself swaying and moving to the steady beat that was around her.

She let the parallel go in her mind and steered hard to avoid another volley of helicopter fire aimed for her. In desperation, she rummaged around the small storage area under her legs for another grenade she hopefully forgot to throw, but only felt dread as she came up with nothing. Her helmet wildly pivoted and rotated around in her search for something to fight off the threat above her and her friends. It seemed much of the same from everyone else: disoriented, afraid, and essentially waiting for one of the helicopters to get lucky and shoot them dead.

There were no viable options. If they left the cover of the smoke they'd be gunned down before they could reach the safety of the buildings, and if they tried to retreat the way they came they were in risk of explosions, dead ends, and still had to race a half-kilometer without being shot. All because of a squad of helicopters that had apparently gone unnoticed to their preparations.

When the sound of more explosions rocked overhead, she was almost fearful to hope the copters had been destroyed, thinking it'd only act as a jinx. But when her eyes caught sight of the helicopters being fired upon, she screamed internally.

Coming from the seaside, a jet flew in a perfect strafe on the helicopters, bolts of light hitting their intended targets and ripping the flying machines to threads. The few helicopters unharmed turned their focus on their enemy in the sky speeding away to prepare for another strafing run. It didn't take long for those on the ground to take advantage of the distraction.

"Get away while you can!" Gavistan shouted from somewhere in the smoke. Mara shot out of the smoke, trails of it lingering behind her car before dissipating into the air. In her side mirrors she could see the rest of the Defiance pulling out as well and headed for the streets. At the road she pulled over and stopped, waiting for her allies to check for their safety, and to watch the fight happening above.

In the dark gray sky, a single jet flew with it's light ribbon activated, its white color a stark contrast to the reds and oranges of the Occupation helicopters. Other enemy jets had joined the fray and were making their way to follow the lone jet fighter, and it appeared the helicopters were backing off because of it, returning to the escaping renegades on the ground. The white circuited jet fighter had other plans instead, once he had let the helicopters get a certain distance away, he flipped his jet around and dove straight for them. A hail storm of white energy beams fell down around the retreating copters, punching holes in their wings and other vital areas of their hull. A nano later, they exploded in costly and deadly fireworks. Shrapnel flying in every direction catching one of the pursuing jets and downing it. Having caused a proper disturbance and removing the threat to the ground forces, the allied jet started heading towards the Outlands.

Mara smirked as she watched the dog fight happen. She snapped herself out of her daze as she realized he was on his way to escape the other jet fighters, and made her own way to the Outlands. She hoped the pilot would be back at the base when she got there and could properly thank him and give him a warm welcome back to Argon.

* * *

"Tron!" Mara exclaimed, her face beaming. Already back at the hideout, the named Program looked back over his shoulder away from the screen he had previously been studying.

"Welcome back renegades," He said calmly looking over the others who were behind her.

"You have perfect timing you know that?" Zed called out next to Mara, before the two reached Tron.

"I suppose you two are lucky I came when I did, those Light Copters looked to have you made," he answered with the barest of smirks.

"I guess we underestimated their response time," Gavistan remarked as he and Perl also joined the impromptu debriefing.

"It's understandable. The majority of soldiers now occupying the city are of Clu's forces, not Tesler's," Tron replied. "I was just going over some of the reports you all put in for the sorties I was away for, why don't you tell me more about them and bring me up to speed to Argon's condition,"

The Mara and Zed gave each other wary glances before turning back to their leader. The looks in their eyes were a mixture of excitement, pride, uncertainty, and fear.

"We have Cyrus locked up at the coliseum," Mara said tentatively. Tron's eyes shot open in surprise, the rest of his body growing stiff with the news. There was a micro before he started for the elevator towards the garage.

"Tell me the story as we go," he told them not turning back.

* * *

Mara, Zed, and Gavistan accompanied Tron on his way to the coliseum. They had remained silent and decided they would tell him the event when they reached the underground tunnels Link had found. It wasn't until they were halfway through the tunnels that they had derezzed their bikes and started to walk that Mara began to tell the former security program everything.

"Me, Zed, and Link were out on patrol, near the suburban area that's south of Able's garage," Mara started, "We were on the rooftops when we saw Paige and Cyrus fighting,"

"Paige was fighting against him?" Tron questioned.

"She was beating him more accurately," Zed commented softly, causing Tron's face to turn to utter disbelief and confusion.

"As I was saying, the two were fighting before Paige had Cyrus on the ground and was able to derez him. We intervened before she could,"

"You should have let her," the older Program said with remorse and weariness.

"Tron! We can't just erase Programs we see fit!" Mara protested.

"Mara…" Zed said quietly.

"Mara, you should know by now there are going to be losses. And with someone like Cyrus, he'll cause the most damage on both sides of our war. I'm sure you think war is fought primarily with two major sides, but there are usually more than that. Cyrus is the third in this case," Tron explained firmly. "He'll stop at nothing to destroy everything in front of him to reach a goal, and for the past few hilocycles I thought it was going to be impossible for anyone to stop him,"

The cyan hair girl was visibly distraught and demoralized at his words. It was a war within herself almost every cycle about the idea of taking another Program's life. Her morals always telling her it was wrong, while her mind told her it was necessary. Her heart only to be quelled by the fact that they needed to fight for the freedom she desired. If they gave up Clu would control the system and their lives would be lifeless, and what's the point of living at that point?

"Right, sorry," she felt a hand find purchase on her shoulder and she looked over to Tron who was giving her one of his open smiles. A broken smile that knew exactly what she thought and what she was going through.

"You did very well while I was gone. I'm glad I put you in charge," he said softly, all the sincerity in voice true and reassuring to Mara.

"What happened to Paige?" he asked after a moment.

"She came with us back to the Outlands," Mara answered, "I think she's unofficially joining us,"

"Is she still there?" Tron asked, his voice oddly rushed.

"She didn't say anything about leaving, she just didn't want join us on our raid," Gavistan answered as they reached the ladder that lead them to the road right outside the coliseum.

"I see. Next time you see her, make sure she stays at the Outlands headquarters, I need a word with her," Tron said before they started to climb.

* * *

Before the group was the unconscious form of arguably the most dangerous Program on the grid. His skin covered in circuit lines that connected with his suit. The three squares on his right forearm that went in tow with his single one on his left. His body seemed relaxed as anybody's in an unconscious form, but his face still retained some aura of mystery, discontent, and pure uncoiled madness.

"Where's his disc?" Tron's voice seemed to be stiff as the rest of his body.

"Here," Zed handed it over.

"You keep it here?" Tron inquired.

"Yeah. Most of the time I'm here and it's locked in the press box,"

Tron only nodded in response. He inspected the disc in his hand with narrowed calculating eyes. The disc of a madman could be extremely dangerous, and the last time he tried to have a system analyze a disc, it was entirely a trap. Who was to say this wasn't another trap?

He attempted to look at the data stored within the disc, but was unsurprisingly denied access. Fake discs often had this function to prevent others from instantly figuring it out wasn't real. His ignited the blade and inspected it closely. The highest qualities of fakes were also able to have the blade of a real disc. One might question if they were able to get their hands on a forged disc of that quality, why not simply make a new disc for themselves that would function as a true one? In the event someone lost their real Identity Disc, it would be the smarter option, but if someone had two fully functioning separate discs, the issue placed is that the mind of a Program is only made to handle one disc.

While it is not impossible to own two or more fully functioning discs of one's own, the issue that crops up is the updating of information. Programs only have one dock for their disc and most of the time, the disc is constantly being updated with the data the Program receives. The Program would have to remove their original disc and update their secondary one to make sure the data wasn't obsolete, an action that would be twice as taxing on the mind and body.

The other benefit of making a high quality fake as opposed to a new disc is the manipulation of data and memories stored on fakes. A quality fake can store a certain amount of data for inspections, and now, that was the most popular use.

Tron returned from his thoughts to the humming of the disc in his hands. Making his decision, he kneeled down and started to dig the blade into the ground as hard as he could.

"Tron what…" Mara started but stopped as Zed padded her softly, indicating to just watch.

After a few nanos, the aged Program was satisfied with the result and turned off the disc, pulling it from the ground.

"Just testing to make sure it's real. The blade of a good forge often has short circuits and outages when it's pushed," Tron justified.

"Looked good to me," Zed said casually.

"Yes, now we just have to wait a few cycles,"

"What do you mean?" Mara asked.

"We keep the disc away from him long enough and he'll lose his memories, becoming a Stray," Tron explained with a solid tone.

"But-"

"This is the best option if you want to keep him alive, Mara," he interjected harshly. "Had you not been here, I would have erased him without hesitation. Whatever he's said, whatever you think he's planned, it's not true," he paused just a fraction to let the words sink in. "He does everything himself, and nothing he plans is made to continue in his absence. At this moment, I'm positive he never calculated for. I'm not sure how he made the mistake, or how Paige was able to defeat him, but I am not going to waste this opportunity," Tron reasoned with finality. The other three stood stock still before Mara lowered her head in shame.

"Sorry, Tron," She said meekly.

"I'll hold onto the disc for the next few cycles, Zed I think you've shown yourself capable of handling the coliseum, I want you in charge here officially, I'll send a handful of others to help you here,"

"Yes sir!" Zed saluted proudly.

"Gavistan, I want you and Perl to start getting groups together, we need recruits, and with the Occupation taking so many Programs, I'm sure others are bound to realize what the Occupation is up to,"

The buff Program nodded his head in understanding and started to walk away.

"Mara, I'll say it again. You did well without me, but don't let your morals get you or anyone else derezzed. I know you're able to handle it in the moment, but there's always a chance it might stop you in the middle of battle. A leader cannot question themselves in those moments. You are a leader, Able saw it, I see it, and so do the others. Focus on the lives that stand next to you when you fight as opposed to the ones you're against. The Programs we're fighting… they can't be saved. Clu's corrupted them beyond repair,"

"You don't know that!" Mara exclaimed.

"Yes, I do. I've seen what happens Mara. They're completely rewritten. Flynn himself couldn't save them. Dyson's told me himself how the process strips the Program of their personality, makes them unquestionably loyal to Clu. The only reason i'm not one of them is because Clu wanted me that way,"

The mechanic opened her mouth to protest again, but something in her mind told her otherwise and she returned to looking down solemnly.

"You're strong," Tron stated, walking next to her. "I know you'll figure it out," he continued onto the exit and left her to think.

* * *

"It's good to see you again," Tron spoke softly, his helmet lifted to show his face.

"Now that I'm not showing you up on the battlefield," she joked lightly. It was nice to finally let go of most of her hatred and pain and accepting the feelings of comfort and security. She had Mara to thank for most of it as well as the weird dreams and visions she had with Beck's disc, real or not, they helped soothe her troubled soul.

"How was Tron City?" She exchanged the pleasantry with valid interest.

"It was enlightening," Tron answered in a mixed tone not revealing anything.

"I'm sure," she responded in slight confusion.

"Mind if I get straight to the point?" He asked seriously.

"I prefer it,"

"Beck's disc. What do you plan to do with it?"

"I'm keeping it with me. Why are you interested in it again?" She shot back aggravated at his concern. Was he still focused on his own demons that he still wanted the identity disk to set him free from them?

"I cared for him just as much as you did," he replied with almost gritted teeth. "I want to-"

"You just pushed him! Barely gave him any rest! Treated him like one of Clu's faceless soldiers!" She barked.

"What you saw? You've been going through his memories?" He asked astonished at her actions.

"Yes! Because unlike you, I'm trying to remember him! Not forget him and move on with some vengeance plot against one Program!"

"This is more than me and Clu! I- We are trying to free the Grid! How can you judge me when you've been rampaging against soldiers out of blind rage?" Paige wanted to shout something back at him but even her quick-witted mind couldn't come up with a counter to his true statement. Not too long before had she been yelling at an imaginary Beck about the same issue.

"I'm not trying to forget him," Tron sighed out as he relaxed his shoulders and hung his head. "I just wanted him to rest in peace," Paige forcibly restrained her anger as his words sunk in. He hung his head even more, and it was clear to Paige this was him opening up. And with his defeated looking posture, she realized that Beck truly was more than just some Program to secure the Grid. He had kept his emotions locked away, buried under mountains of practiced and well formed barriers, but was unearthing them to prove to her how much he had grown attached to the young mechanic.

"Now, things have changed. I don't want his disc anymore, I want you to keep it safe. Because I trust you," he went on after a brief pause to gather his emotions.

"I… How can you trust me?" the medic asked fairly skeptical.

"I had a chat with someone… someone you might remember," his answer was hardly one at all and only made her confused. For a nano, she thought of who in the world he could have talked to that knew her and drew up blank. She quickly gave him the 'go on' look and impatiently waited.

"I met Quorra,"

"Quorra's alive?" she growled.

"The only reason she attacked you was to save you from the Occupation. She didn't kill any of those Programs, Tesler did," Tron reasoned immediately, prepared for her reaction.

"What? How do you know? She told you?"

"Yes," the older Program said curtly. Making one last check, he scanned the room and the perimeter with his senses before continuing.

"I found Flynn," he informed her quietly. Her shock was instantaneous and written all over her face and body language.

"Quorra was with him. As we exchanged stories I realized you were the same Paige that Quorra had met. That's what made you join Tesler isn't it? He told you the ISO's had destroyed that sector, killed your friends, and you believed him," Tron admonished.

Shock and disbelief had quickly overrun Paige. The information had quickly deflated her and snuffed out the fire that was within her, as her head lowered. It was blindingly obvious, she had come to their rescue, treated them for their wounds. They were doing their best to survive, they weren't killers.

"She saved you, Paige," The medic only nodded her head softly, before bringing it back up, the fire in her eyes lit with their heated passion once again.

"I need you to go to Flynn. He has more information on Clu and…" the Program trailed off, seemingly unsure of his next words.

"What?"

"I told him about you and Beck, he seems to have a odd interest in you. He wanted me to tell you that he'd like to see you in person," Had Paige known this whole conversation was going to be as confusing as it was, she might have held off on having it.

"Did he tell you why?"

"No, just that he wanted to see you,"

"Typical User," she muttered softly.

"Will you go?"

"Yes, whatever he wants with me i'm sure is important," Paige stated confidently.

"I'm glad to hear it," Tron answered with the small amount of mirth she was quickly coming to be accustomed was his happiest tone.

"Quorra will be there?" she asked.

"Absolutely,"

"Good," _I think I have some things to say to her._

* * *

Macros and macros of data, tendrils of plans only just beginning and confused patterns of distorted thoughts. All the information held within the disc of a deranged Program. A man who's purpose wasn't truly warped into it's desired component but of a far deeper caliginosity.

Tron stood to the entrance of the broken trans-dimensional prison under the whirlpool hidden within the Outlands.

 _Not hidden well enough._ Tron thought snidely as he stepped over the biggest shard of the broken one way mirror. As he suspected, nothing seemed to be wrong with the prison entrance aside from it being in pieces. Taking one of his stun charges, he dropped the activated device down the pitch black whole and saw the electrical blue light quickly swallowed up. Shrugging, he hopped down the hole and feel into the dark abyss only to find his feet hitting a ledge almost immediately, as if he had simply blinked and he was standing within the prison.

The prison cell was the last thing he would have called the constructed dimension he now stood in. A peek over the edge quickly revealed the impossible depth of what was obviously a crafted tunnel. Most of the lights were off, but with the tap of Cyrus's disc on the ground, energy from an unknown source started to fill the pathways built into the structure. The added light gave away to the massive damage caused from what was some sort of Tesla device that laid on the bottom in a catastrophic mess.

The journey down to the bottom was long and tedious. Along the way, the inner workings of the machine were examined with keen cold blue steel eyes. Chunks of formatted ground and walls were strewn about, sparks of energy fizzled in and out of life along the exposed circuit lines along almost all the surfaces. It looked as if the place would take months to repair. A process that would never be done.

Finally reaching the bottom, or what appeared to be, Tron quickly looked over the Tesla machine. Taking out his own recoder, he attached its magnetic prongs to the surface of the device and preformed diagnostic scan. When the recoder beeped at him in the negative, he was relieved to say the least. Fastening the recoder back to his belt, he stood up and gave one last scan of the bottom floor before looking up. The way up seemed a lot further than it was down, along with more challenging. Tron only sighed and shrugged his shoulders. Nothing was ever to daunting for the savior of the Grid.

* * *

All he could feel was pain. Sharp, stinging pain that left smaller tingles of small explosives along his skin. He struggled to breathe at first, convulsing randomly to regain knowledge of how to do something so essential to living. A few deep breaths later, he focused on opening his eyes. Again, he struggled to do the simple task. Only after a few minutes had gone by and considerable effort was able to lift his weighted eyelids and examine his environment.

Everything was considerably red. Red barriers, circuit lines, auxiliary lights, chains- Chains? Staring hard at the red glowing chains that were bound to his wrist, he quickly swept his eyes over the other ligaments to find all over them contained. He tried to stand, but yet again, found he couldn't without a great deal of effort.

Only now that he was aware of no immediate danger, he realized how incredibly drained he was to truly feel so weak. How long had he gone without energy? Usually he could last a few weeks before ever needing some, that was of course if he was sitting around and conserving it. Obviously that had not been the case.

His next question was of his location followed by how he got into it. Clearly, he was in a prison cell of sorts. And on further inspection, he seemed to be the only one being held there as not a single other cell was occupied. The sharp electric pain coursing through him hindered his ability to focus on the missing information. Instead, he tried to remember anything. Dark images of another prison cell, one more spacious and more comforting appeared in his mind's eye. Frames of a older Program with white armor and a tetrahedron symbol on his chest also fluttered by. Nothing made sense. He felt he should have known who the Program was but there was a disconnect, as if he couldn't access the memory properly.

Instinctively, his hand moved to his back where his disc was, only to come back empty. Fear didn't creep in, as it would for others. Something in him told him he was beyond it. Anger was something he was supposed to feel, but without the disc, he couldn't really remember why. So he stuck with confusion. Questions upon questions with no one to answer them.

Then the pain sparked again, only to go critical and straight to his head. A million jagged needles flowing with electricity stabbed at the inside of is skull and down his spine. It lasted for the Program's longest minute of his life, stopping when he eventually went unconscious.

He awoke an hour later as if the incident hadn't happened, and he once again fought to do all the basic functions of breathing, blinking, and standing. The same questions ran through his head as they did an hour before, but instead of the pain returning, it seemed to have finally completely it's torturous cycle. Leaving him with a few new questions.

 _Where am I?_

 _What is this place?_

 _Why am I here?_

 _..._

 _Who am I?_

* * *

Zed had informed Tron when he found Cyrus completely devoid of any awareness. Striding down the corridor, he quickly found Cyrus's cell, Zed, Mara, Paige, and a few others as guards standing outside. They all looked at him expectantly but no one said anything. He opened the lock and walked into the cell.

Sitting on the bench examining the cell around him lackadaisically was Cyrus. He turned to face Tron hearing the door close. The two studied each other for a long time, analyzing versus curiosity.

"Hello," Cyrus said after a moment, his voice baring more formal tones.

"Hello, do you remember anything?" Tron asked back, kneeling down so he was at eye level with the prisoner.

"No, I can't. Do you know where my disc is?" Cyrus asked genuinely.

"Yes, I do. I found it," Tron answered. "Though, it appears I was too late," he said with a hint of sorrow, all to the confusion of the others.

"What do you mean?"

"I was too late, and you lost all your memories,"

"I won't get them back with my disc?"

Tron shook his head. "You've been without it for too long. Your disc will reset itself once you place it on your dock,"

"Oh…" Cyrus responded quietly. "Where was it?"

"Your disc?"

"Yeah,"

"I found it in your old prison cell. Before this, you were a dangerous Program, and another powerful Program locked you in there," Tron replied, causing the others outside the cell to stand ridge with tense anticipation.

"I was… dangerous?" Cyrus asked in innocent curiosity.

"Yes, but now you can start a new life," Tron stated standing up and pulling out Cyrus's disc to hand to him. He hoped that his disc would detain his attention from asking his history too much. He took it hesitantly and examined it in his hands, flipping it, and slowly peering at all the corners and groves.

"It looks like any ordinary disc to me," Cyrus said sorrowfully.

"It's only because you've become disconnected from it that you don't feel that familiarity with it. Once you put it back on, everything will be in sync again,"

Cyrus analyzed the disc for a few more micros before slowly lifting it behind him and snapping it to his dock. Tron along with everyone else prepared themselves for what would happen, all standing with their muscle taught and minds razor sharp for any sudden reactions. It took a moment for the prisoner to come back to reality as his disc reformatted itself to its owner, and once it was completed, he looked up and around himself, looking the same.

"Well, I guess you were right. I can't remember anything else…" Cyrus's voice was now filled with disappointment as he hung his head slightly, before looking up at Tron. "What happens now?"

"We let you out," Tron motioned for Zed to open the cell and a nano later, the red energy wall came down.

"Where will I go?"

"I've lined up a work position for you in a nearby town. It's simple work. And safe. Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah, I don't really have any other options do I?" Cyrus asked with a small smirk, which Tron answered with his own.

"Let's go,"

* * *

It was a long ordeal. Meeting up with the owner of the landscape company, showing Cyrus his new living space, answering the many questions that he had of the area, and of himself. The process had taken a few pectros, valuable time spent during a war, but was necessary. It must have been near the end the of cycle by the time Tron managed to return along with the others back to the Outlands. Having planned a discussion on Cyrus before starting their next moves in the Defiance.

Tron sat with this back facing the large 180 degree window overlooking the Outlands and Argon. The small light that filtered in from the large in wall lights was plenty to light up the room with a bluish hue.

To his left sat Perl and Gavistan, the two had worked well while he was gone, and he suspected they were growing close as friends. It was subtle, but there distance between them when they were together was minimal, whether he was the only one who saw it didn't really matter, but he could at least appreciate his trusted…

What did he call them all? Were they his second in command? Lieutenants? Was their group big enough to even have rankings? Did they need rankings?

…friends. Tron thought about it a moment and figured it was an appropriate word for him, but not for the rest of the Defiance. It would be something to discuss in the not to distant future.

To his right, Zed and Mara sat. Zed was comfortably focused, relaxed in body language, but his eyes sharp and his mind centered on the discussions about to be held. Mara, on the other hand, was still looking quite shaken up and confused. Tron let out an internal sigh figuring she still hadn't accepted a side and was still fighting her moral beliefs.

Lastly, sitting directly across was Paige. Most of her body was covered in her cloak, the green circuits running along it went well with her growing hair that was now a few centimeters past her shoulder line. Her face withheld any outlining emotion making her look very calm and collect, a sight he'd never imagine on the fiery commander. Yet, he was glad she had joined them. The way Beck had talked her made it seem she was still salvageable from Tesler's iron gauntlet. In a way, he was right.

"You had some pretty weird questions for the guy Tron," Zed commented as they all got situated around the large circular table. The others' expressions showed they agreed with his statement.

"They were triggers. I brought up painful memories and facts to see if he would have reaction to them, a test," Tron answered knowingly.

"Shouldn't you have done that after giving him his disc?" Paige asked.

"No, I had to make sure the amnesia had taken full affect, it was a balanced and precise movement I had to coordinate with him. I couldn't tell alert him or cause him to panic with the details of his old life, but I needed to test his reactions,"

"It was all planned?" Gavistan inquired, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Yes,"

"How'd you know what he was gonna ask?" Perl spoke up.

"He wasn't the first Stray I had to interview. Back in Tron City I've come across a few. Flynn wanted to give them a chance. He had me talk to them and learn anything from them. They never got their memories back, but Flynn was able to give them work,"

"So… now he's going to live a normal life?" Mara asked.

"Yes and no. He'll be able to learn the skills required to be park of the landscape crew, but he'll always be missing that essential part of himself that defines him. It'll haunt him, but he'll manage as long as he deals with the emotions properly. That's why I want all of you to check on him every few cycles, make sure he's processing everything correctly, and if he seems off, talk to him, become his friend,"

"Wait, you're asking us to become friends with someone you would have rather derezzed a couple cycles ago?" Paige exclaimed in confusion.

"Yes. He's no longer a danger to the war, but if he's left unchecked, he can become what he was. I'm making sure we take precautions and steps to avoid that result,"

There was a pause as everyone seemed to digest the information.

"Was it right?" Mara questioned softly, her head facing downward at the table.

"Was there any other choice?" Gavistan reasoned with her.

Again, they were silent as they thought about the answer.

"No, you're right… There wasn't anything else we could have done," she let out with remorse.

"I don't get it. Why are you so broken up about this guy? From what i've been told, he's getting off easy!" Perl suddenly shot at Mara, the annoyance making wrinkles on her forehead and around her eyes.

"It's wrong to decide someone's life like that," the mechanic growled back, attempting to reign in her own frustration at the former troublemaker.

"No we don't, but he's still alive! He was trying to kill everyone in the Grid. How can you feel bad about letting him live?!" Perl bellowed. Gavistan tugged her back into her seat she had launched out of midway through the rant.

"We basically did kill him!" Mara protested.

"Mara," Zed pleaded with her.

"What? Didn't we? We erased who he was, we removed his soul from him. Does that sound better?" the girl spat out at her boyfriend.

"Mara," Tron voice was quieter than the two girls had been, but it's seriousness sternness had made everyone look back to the leader.

"I examined his disc closely using a recoder. It was corrupted. Abraxas, a virus that entered the system right before the ISO's genocide, I found lingering strands of his code in the disc. Whoever Cyrus was, he was killed long ago. Only by reseting his disc could we purge the corrupted code, along with Clu's repurposing. The soldiers out there, doing their best to derez us, not detain, not imprison, kill us. They can't be saved,"

"But-"

"Flynn told me himself, Mara," Tron interrupted him harshly, his tone clipped and irritated. "I know this is hard for you, but you need to get out of this fantasy world where everyone lives happily ever after," the room seemed to become as devoid of sound as space while he let the words sink in. "I thought you and Zed of all Programs would understand that,"

At his words, something flickered across her eyes. It was brief, but everyone saw it, and whatever thoughts were aligned with it seemed to have made her choice for her.

"Yes, you're right. I'm sorry," she said quietly before sitting back down.

"Very well. Now that we're finished with that discussion, I wanted to ask your feelings on your positions in this rebellion," the question seemed to take everyone but Paige slightly aback as to the meaning.

"During my trip to Tron City, all over you showed great leadership and strategic planning. I'm… proud of the result you were able to achieve while I was away. Everyone comes to you when something is needed, and I think it is time I made it official you are recognized as leaders in this group," Tron explained.

"You're giving us ranks?" Gav asked almost disbelieving.

"You can look at it that way,"

"Fine by me," Perl commented leaning into the back of her chair.

"Same, especially since I'm going to be taking over the coliseum," Zed agreed as well.

"Sounds good," Mara said meekly, still embarrassed from her public reprimand.

"I'll pass," Paige said with distaste, her eyes not leaving Tron's. Only after a solid nano did she finally smirk. To his surprise, he smirk back at her and realized she was done with ranks and being a leader.

"That's alright, the others can handle it," Tron answered.

"So, what are you calling us?" Gav inquired, copying Perl's body position and leaning back into his chair.

"For now, I'm going to call you Specialists,"

"Specialists?" Perl asked dubiously. "I don't really know if we qualify as 'specialists',"

"I think otherwise. Gavistan's knowledge in strategy as a tactician. Zed's expertise and advanced comprehension of mechanical devices. Mara's instincts on leadership, morale, and controlling the others during a battle. And your insight to the area along with your own leadership and kinship you have with the others," he explained.

"What about her?" Perl pointed back at the medic.

"I'm not going to lead anyone, anywhere. I'll leave that up to you four," she commented plainly. A nano later, Perl shrugged her shoulders and turned back to Tron.

"It's settled," Tron concluded. "Now, let's talk about our next move,"

* * *

AN: Hello everyone. I hope you enjoyed the latest update. I originally thought I was going to have this done sometime during fall, but seeing as that I'm not even half way done, it looks like it'll take even longer for me to finish. Just more to look forward. And looking back, this happens to be the same date I started posting this fan fiction last year! So happy birthday pain in the ass story! You make me feel guilty and lazy for not working more often on you!

Sorry it took so long to get this out. Hopefully there aren't too many mistakes, I know I used minutes, second, and hours at one point, oh well.

Originally I was planning on just dumping Cyrus off in Purgos and leaving him at that, but I thought better of it. I pushed Mara's ethics in this one because of Cyrus. I wouldn't say she's normally like this, but under pressure and stress, she's pushed into this kind of thinking, trying to justify if killing, and subsequently the Defiance is doing the right thing. Basically she was hysterical this chapter.

The Specialists thing was also just a go with the flow kind of thing. While i'm not to keen on the name, their little group does need some kind of distinction from the others. I was never good at labeling groups or things so, that's all I could come up with that seemed like a Tron kind of thing while not sounding completely ridiculous.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!

-Rose's Requiem


	18. Love's Eternal Flame (Arc II 4)

Love's Eternal Flame (Arc II 4)

* * *

The weather was quiet and mild, rare for the warmer season of the Grid. Filled with harsh storm fronts over the Sea of Simulation, that clashed with the dominant dry and cold air of the Outlands, Argon faced awful tantrums of rain, harsh winds, and hail at random times of the cycle. Annoying and unpredictable as it was, it was still what Paige had started to call home.

Currently, the medic was flying over the sea with a two seated jet. Tron insisted she use this kind for the benefit of its speed, versatility, and fuel efficiency. Spending less time to reach her destination, more time in the air than the ground meaning less chance of being spotted by Clu's soldiers, and better odds of survival with her higher performing jet. She argued against it as the benefits were minimal and unnecessary, preferring a single seater, but the older Program stepped his foot down. Of course she had a Baton Jet strapped to her thigh, but seeing that a two seated couldn't compress into a baton she was out of luck. She was thankful for the jet's autopilot feature and relaxed as she sailed through the clouds.

Her mind wondered to the usual, Beck. Specifically, some of the memories she had found surfing his disc.

Between their dates, he had resumed his alter ego, that didn't surprise her. What did surprise her was how his thoughts had started to turn. No longer had he felt a brilliant flame of righteousness, instead he felt downtrodden, hopeless, and isolated.

It was clear to see it when she looked at his memories. His complexion when he looked in the mirror was off, much lighter than it was when he first began fighting. His frame had deteriorated as well, his chest, shoulders, and arms the main component of muscle loss. The rich brown eyes she had become so fond of were half lidded and showed dark circles underneath. Cresses of stress were etched into his skin, hard to notice but when one has the ability to freeze a memory it became quite obvious.

It should have been obvious to her, especially with her medical training, that he was facing severe depression. Paige berated herself for not seeing it sooner, particularly on her later dates with the mechanic. She took a breath when her thoughts yet again turned dark toward herself. It wasn't her fault she hadn't been able to see the subtle changes of someone new, nor had she been able to see it on their dates as he was able to completely forget his troubles for a brief time. It wasn't her fault he hid what hurt so much so well, as what his duty to save everyone from his prolific secret.

But now that she knew his thoughts, nothing was withheld from her. Behind his shining eyes were the dark murky thoughts of someone who was truly losing faith. Forcefully isolated from his friends, and the only one he could confide in had held his own secret of the Renegade's birth and couldn't be trusted.

The doctor tried to imagine how Mara and Zed acted while he was out on his secret missions, it wasn't something that came readily to her. She could only base their reactions off the few times Beck and the two had been able to chat. Beck was worn down, and clearly just looking to go rest. The other two were visibly displeased and gave short curt responses, clearly holding back their true thoughts. Even Able seemed to be of a similar mood, yet more sympathetic than his fellow mechanics.

 _They'll understand._

She recalled one of his nights where Zed had refused to even acknowledge him and Mara only glared and walked off when he returned hours after his shift would have ended. Instead of trying to talk to them he opted to simply go to his room and catch up on sleep. But when it hasn't come, he tried to process his friend's reactions and the detrimental sorrow that followed. That night he sobbed silently. Even with his disc, Paige had struggled to comprehend what was going on, and only figured it out when he wiped his tears with his forearm.

Of course, Paige had felt her heart become taught when she watched the memories, as if hundreds of finely woven wires were wrapped around it and strangling it, trying to rip it to pieces. But as she continued to watch, she found an inception happening. In his darkness, he had replayed the dates and thoughts of her in his mind. The light in the dark. Only to Beck would he see the potential hope in someone else who was surrounded by the corruption and lies.

 _He held so much._

 _..._

 _So much pain._

 _..._

 _And yet, he still went on._

-memory-

"So you've been to my place, do I get to see yours?" Paige playfully admonished.

The spiky haired mechanic only smirked and raised an eyebrow knowingly at her in response.

The pair were walking down one of last nice boulevards in Purgos, having met up not to long before and planned the rest of the day devoted just to each other. The two had decided on an area in Purgos as the Occupation hadn't taken to occupying as many places in Purgos than Argon.

"I don't see why not, I'll take you there later," he said lightly, clearly indicating he had already made plans to.

The two fell into a comfortable silence as they trotted along the near black sidewalk. Two to four story tall trees took place in the middle of the road, separating the rarely used traffic lanes. More trees were placed between couple of meters between the sidewalk and road, almost perfectly in the middle and spaced about thirteen meters from base to base. While trees of the User realm were made of wood, often brown, topped with leaves, pines, etc, trees in the Grid were nothing of the sort.

Trunks still held a nature like texture, much like the rock formations in the Outlands: jagged, rough, unformatted by a User or Program. Much like wildlife, it managed to grow over time, depending on the species varied other characteristics. Oak, the ones planted throughout the area the couple were in, had darkly colored leaves. Tinted green, they were somewhat see through on the edges and slightly foggy, similar to the transparency and consistently of a salt crystal. They had smooth textures and their strength that of normal paper, similar to the leaves of the User world, and similarly to the real world, the leaves would fall from their host branches once the season changed to less hospitable.

Their base was kept clean by cleaning Programs of any small and unsightly branches. Along with the area as a whole, clean, neat. Natural yet, controlled.

But just as nature could be controlled in some aspects, it was a truly untamable and unpredictable creature in the end.

"Rain?" Paige questioned softly, holding her hand out while looking up at the clouded sky. Beck followed her gaze upward. His eyes wear able to see the glittering line of water falling a fraction before it dripped harmlessly onto his forehead.

"Looks like it, want to go before it gets bad?" the mechanic inquired. With a nod, the two promptly gathered themselves and headed off.

* * *

It was a short ride to Abel's garage, one they took in comfortable silence. When they had reached one of the side entrances to the massive garage, he slowed and allowed the two to get off before derezzing his bike and strapping it to his leg. With a quick glance over at Paige, he smiled and headed inside. He knew it wasn't her first time at the garage, in fact, he recalled her first time there, and subsequently the first time they met without the mask. It wasn't the most pleasant memory, so he decided to keep the fact to himself.

"What do you think?" he asked while making a grand gesture to the garage with his one hand raised toward the center of it all. The cheesy smile he had plastered on his face made Paige chuckle softly as she strode by him and poking him in the sides, causing him to reflexively push her hand away.

"I didn't know you worked at this garage. This is the one the Occupation prefers to associate with," she smirked with an eyebrow raised slightly in a knowing face as she watched him catch up to her.

"Oh did I? Must have slipped my mind, don't want you to get the wrong idea and think I boast about my impressive accomplishments," he waved his eyebrows back at her with his own smug expression. Which rewarded him with another jab to his side.

"Don't I know it," she laughed lightly. The beautiful melody of it filling his ears and stomach with pleasant butterflies. He starred unwaveringly at her, entranced by her beauty, wishing for everything in his life to capture this moment forever. Hoping he could make her laugh like this whenever he wanted. It was instantaneous for her to see his current low lid eyes and soft expression and she knew he was deep in his head thinking about her. That surge of emotions quickly erupted in her core and filled her limbs with almost uncontrolled energy. With a slowness she felt more than commanded, her body gravitated toward his with an invisible pull and was mere centimeters apart.

"Well? Show me around, Mechanic," her voice was low and sultry, added with the closeness of her face, the mechanic could hardly breath. The things she did made it impossible for him to not fall farther entranced.

"I..." his voice rumbled, the smooth sound of gravel churning was the image that came to Paige's mind.

The curt, harsh through clearing from their left helped break their focus on each other, but did little to calm the multitude of blissful emotions coursing through their souls.

"Mind introducing us to your friend Beck?" Zed, obviously the one who interrupted the two, stood with Mara. Both holding a devilish and knowing grin on their faces. Beck felt the heat on his cheeks for his unintentional public display of affection but recovered smoothly.

"Mara, Zed, this is Paige. Paige-"

"Actually, I've met them before," she cut him off sweetly, causing the man to raise an eyebrow in question.

"When Hopper was accused of being the Renegade, we went to the Commander to prove his innocence," Mara explained with a smile directed toward Paige, who returned it with less enthusiasm.

"Yes, you two were very brave to come to his defense. Especially against Tesler," the Commander complimented with admiration.

"Hey, it's what we do. Just trying to do what's right," Zed confidently announced while putting his hands behind his head and strutting his ego. The girl next to him quickly reprimanded his poor behavior with a jab to the side.

"So, Commander," Mara started.

"Please, Paige. I rather not feel intimidating while not on duty," Paige corrected politely.

"Paige," Mara said with a brighter smile, "How do you know Beck?" She asked with great curiosity. There was a brief pause as she gathered an answer. The small time Beck felt his stomach plummet and all his earlier joyful emotions disappear.

"We met on a train going to Bismuth," she said with admiration, which further confused the other two mechanics.

"Wait what?" Zed reactively asked.

"When were you on a train to Bismuth? Why were you going there in the first place?" Mara asked incredibly confused. Her second question far deadlier than the first.

"I never asked why you were either," Paige said somewhat admonished. "It was honestly the last thing in my mind after we all jumped from it,"

"What?!" Both Mara and Zed exclaimed in horrified shock.

"Okay okay! Let me explain what happened," Beck cut it making a decisive story.

"First off, I was headed to Bismuth to run some errands for Abel. As I was walking around, I bumped into Paige, who I had met before while I was out. It was one of the reasons I missed a shift," Beck explained to his friends mid story, "Anyway, we were talking when I-"

"Said you were an architect?" Paige commented in stylish sass.

"Yes, I admit I lied and said I was a architect to impress her. I was interrupted by a Light Copter that was apparently looking for a run away Program. And for whatever reason, the copter started shooting the train and disabled the breaking system,"

"I can explain that. The Occupation was trying to return one of its research and development scientists who had gone AWAL. Pavel, my less than competent coworker, had his gunner shoot the train attempted to detain the scientist who had revealed herself on the top of the train. The gunner lost control of his bearings and began shooting wildly at the train when he hit the conductors box and destroyed the brake system,"

"Ah got it," Beck feigned understanding, which was incredibly hard when he felt an overwhelming amount of guilt, "I met up with Paige again when the cars on the train started closing off. I unlocked us with my impressive mechanical skills and we managed to cut off the passengers from the engine block,"

"So you jumped off when the train came to a stop then?" Zed supplied thinking he had the story.

"Not quite. The scientist I had talked about had jumped onto the engine compartment at the last second and I followed," Paige expanded.

"Yes, I managed to get on after her and found the bridge was out after Bismuth. I unloaded my baton parts into the Light Stream and was able to get the train slow enough for all of us to jump off and escape derezzing in the canyon," The spiky haired Program finally finished.

His two friends starred at him with wide eyes. Their bodies were frozen in a suspended state of disbelief and concern.

"What! Why didn't you tell us Beck! Are you hurt? Here sit down, let us take a look!" Mara said in a frantic rush.

"I'm fine,"

"He's fine," both Paige and Beck said at the same time. "Ive been programmed as a medic, he's alright,"

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry," Beck hurriedly explained before Mara could nag at him again. "But like I said, I'm fine,"

"Well now I feel bad for being mad at you for missing your shifts," Beck gave his friend a reassuring smile.

"You didn't know, I understand,"

"Mara, Zed!" A old, grainier voice called out. The four turned to see Abel approaching with his usual stern look and taught stance. "I need you two to help Link with a project, seems the boy doesn't know how to properly use a lift," Abel commented in agitation.

"You got it boss," Zed said prompting the two friends to leave. Abel turned his attention to Beck and his companion.

"So, you decide to show up when you don't have a shift, and you bring a... friend," he peered at the Commander with unrevealing eyes.

"I know, I'm sorry Abel. I promise I'll try to make it to more shifts,"

" _Try_?"

"Well if you have me running to Bismuth all the time, I can't always be expected to make it here on time," Beck said with a certain strain in his voice. Abel took it as Beck's attempt to get his boss's cover, while Paige took it as stress from all that had happened on the train ride to Bismuth. Because he had relived the story and finally told his friends, she imagined it was like opening a recent traumatic experience. She wondered how he was feeling about the Games.

"Right…" Abel drawled slowly and eyed Beck with a hard glare, telling him he'd have to explain himself later. "Just make sure you don't piss anyone off. The others have noticed your lack of commitment to your shifts and aren't as lenient as I am towards the behavior," he warned before heading off.

"I like him," the words surprised the young Program.

"Really?" Beck asked as he they walked towards the lift to the dorms with Paige close behind.

"He's a smart leader, I can tell that much. I admire those types of Programs,"

"What about ones that impress?" his lips pulled up in a cocky smirk.

"Depends on how they impress me. Lucky for you, my dear Mechanic, you've impressed me almost every way possible,"

"Almost?" Pressing her for more, his expression causing her to laugh seductively.

"So you disagree with Clu's perfection, but you want perfect with me?" her eyes were filled with a lightness that told him how much she enjoyed him by her side.

"Maybe you just make me want to the best I can be," Beck spoke softly, his

"Well you've turned me on to the idea imperfection. Don't go back on that and act perfect," she teased lightly while poking him lightly in the ribs. He laughed and slapped her hand away quickly.

"Maybe it's in my programming to please," he beamed back brightly as they approached the door to his room.

"Hmmm, I wonder if there's a way for me to extort that," Paige said lowly as if the words weren't intended for him.

"Say something, Medic?" Beck asked suspicious with playful hints.

"Nothing at all, Mechanic," she grinned back at him challenging him playfully. Finally managing to open his door, he stepped out of the way and allowed his date to enter the room first.

"Ladies first," Beck motions with his arm extended toward the rooms.

"Such a gentleman," she noted while entering his room. A small hum escaped her chest as she peered around the small box.

"It's… _cozy_ ," she said hesitantly, as he stepped in behind her and closed the door.

"I know it's small. Might say it's claustrophobic, but it's home," he replied warmly. He was most definitely fond the small dorm.

The box, as Paige was quickly becoming to think of it, seemed no bigger than three by three and a half meters. Directly opposite the door, where the mechanic still stood, was a large hexagonal window. In the corner to the right stood a full sized bed where Paige had comfortably seated herself as she continued to analyze the room. In the left corner, opposite of the bed, was a small cabinet. Its long rectangular frames held little designs other than diagonal lines that were marked into them. The corner to the left of door held a simple storage unit for addition clothing options or other belongings. It was slightly darker than the stark white that encompassed the walls leading Paige to believe it had been his own personal addition to the place. In the last corner right of the door was a desk that fitted perfectly into the corner and walls with a chair tucked neatly under it. It appeared to be a work station or terminal that Beck hardly ever used, while Paige couldn't put her finger on it just by a glance something about the set up seemed… untouched. No personal affections had been added to the white smooth table, and Beck wasn't one to put things perfectly back in place such was the chair between both ends of the table. The last piece of furniture was a nightstand between the table and bed. Unlike the bare table, it had personal affections, two picture frames. She took hold of one of the frames and placed it in her lap.

In the picture stood four Programs, three of which she knew: Mara, who was on far left with a huge smile plastered on her face. Zed, on the far right with a similar expression though he appeared to be mid laugh. Beck, pressed into the camera shot by Zed, seemed unprepared and held an odd expressive smile. And one other Program smashed against Beck by Mara, his hair had a white stripe in the middle of it and he had red secondary circuit lines.

"That's Bodhi," Beck said softly as he sat down next to Paige to peer at the picture in her lap.

Bodhi appeared equally as awkward as Beck in the photo. It didn't take a genius to see that Mara and Zed had jumped the two young mechanics and surprised them into a photo.

"He's the friend you lost when the Occupation came into Argon?" Her comment was more of a statement than question.

"Yeah," Beck replied sorrowfully. The medic placed the frame back on the table and picked up the other one. The nano she saw it, Paige could tell it was not a surprise photo grab. This time five Programs stood together, four in the front, one in the back. All four of the previous Programs stood in the front wearing clean and bright smiles on their face, with a darker, taller Program standing behind them with a aged but still happy smile on his face.

"That's when we first got hired here. Abel," Beck pointed at the one in the photo, "commemorated our first day with a photo,"

Before either could continue, the roaring of the rain brought their attention to the window. Water steadily pelted every spot on glass, the view of the mountains out in the distance becoming distorted and wavy. The room felt smaller as the wall of rain seemed to disconnect them with the world and Paige couldn't help but feel claustrophobic. As she stared at the waterfall she didn't notice Beck silently moving to the light-switch until the lights flicked off.

When the room turned dark, she felt released from the tight walls and confined space. Her mechanic sat behind her, his chest pressing up against her back and his arms snaking around her waist to hold her against him. She turned back to look at him and found his eyes soft and understanding. He knew that claustrophobic feeling, had most likely lived with it for years. The small sensation of… something bloomed in her chest. A feeling she had before with him but had yet to figure it out.

The two adjusted their positions so that they could completely face the window and ended up with Paige leaning back on Beck in comfort. Her arms and hands became flush with his and intertwined their fingers together as they held her securely at her core.

In that moment, their world's melted away. The Occupation, Pavel, Tesler, The Renegade, everything vanished. No other sound besides the constant rain and their soft breathing. The warmth of their bodies fleshing into one source.

Inside the small coded room they sat staring out at the far off mountain range. Large landscapes of unexplored and untampered code, patiently observing the two and comforting them. It called to them. A world beyond the rigid tight walls of society, where conflict was inevitable and rules were so conforming to the way of life. Open and free in almost every way, the idea of running to it, running from the pain and leaving it for others to handle.

Along with the the rain, so cleansing. So overtaking, it could make almost any place a sanctuary for the mind. A place to think without painful emotions, and to wash away the hurt that comes with them.

The idea flowed through them, flirted and taunted them with promises of happiness and security, but in the back of their minds they knew better than to believe in the fairy tale idea. Especially when their source of contentment was in their own arms already.

The touch of someone else, someone you care for. So much so, that you'd willingly and without hesitation sacrifice a part or all of yourself for them. And it's finally realized when you feel the warmth from them. The heat of their core against yours, the life that's with you, binding and bonding. It's only then that you realize holding them in your arms or being held is so much more than a cute romantic gesture. It's something that can't truly be described by someone other than the one who feels it, and it's complicated magnitude of emotions are still difficult to fully comprehend, let alone put labels to each little spark of light flowing through the heart and mind.

Love, an experience so profoundly individual is impossible to truly describe to another person. A subjective sensation that is unique as the person and the love itself. Each reason, attraction, and hope formed of personal preference and choice. It is the invisible bridge one takes to cross the darkest parts of their own heart in hopes of connecting with another. Faith must be in every step, knowing it can't be seen or guaranteed the next step will be the last taken into the darkest corners of the heart.

Faith, hope, and love.

Calculated by ones and zeroes of the brain, encouraged by the heart, and strengthen by the soul.

Complex emotional technology.

Time passed in increments of passion. Standing still at moments for the couple as they basked in each other then having waves of euphoria crash down on them as they became highly aware of the reality. It seemed so natural, felt so complete and right.

Only when the rain had subsided it's lashing on the world did they finally stay in reality and time crawled. Each subtle movement heightened, every soft brush of the fabrics being moved.

"Do you want to lay down? Looks like the rain is fizzling out," Beck murmured next to her ear. The gentle heated breath tickling her ear lobe and causing butterflies and sparks to run along her spine.

Fearing her voice would fail her, Paige simply nodded at the suggestion and she soon found herself falling down. The cushions were soft and welcoming, filled with the scent of her love. Still cocooned in his arms, her senses were overtaken by everything that was Beck. She found herself drowning once again in blissful peace.

In her angelic state, she attempted to recollect how she come to this place, but found it was similar to being intoxicated, her mind refused to concentrate on anything other than the present.

It wasn't until later she had cracked her eye open and found she had a knot forming in her shoulder. Her awareness of her environment was there but she had lost track of time and wondered if she had fallen asleep.

Tentatively, she looked over her shoulder to find Beck fast asleep. She couldn't help the smile that tugged at lips and snickered quietly to herself. She wasn't sure why it was funny, something about him being defenseless and adorable made her smile like a fool.

Carefully managing the arm that was still snaked around her waist, Paige flipped herself so she could watch him as he slept. She knew it was wasteful to sleep a free day away, but she'd be damned if she didn't enjoy her mechanic's sleeping face.

When her legs started to get antsy she took it as her cue to get up.

"Beck..." she started softly. A poke to the shoulder.

Nothing.

"Beck," she murmured a pinch louder. A firmer poke to his chest.

A low groan issued from said chest and Paige smirked wickedly. Her lips pressed hard together to trap the laughter that was bottling up her chest.

"Come on, mechanic," she issued followed by a soft jab to the side.

He twitched slightly but didn't wake. A few words escaped his lips but they were too faint to be heard clearly.

"What was that, architect?" She whispered softly, curious to his dream.

"Keller..." Beck murmured in what sounded like distress.

Confusion halted her fuzzy feelings.

"Beck?"

"Paige..."

"What are..."

"Tron... couldn't..." his face became hard, further troubled by the dreams.

 _Tron?_

"Save... her..."

What the hell was he talking about?

"...failed..."

"Beck. Wake up," Paige said loudly and shoving his shoulder.

"Wha..." he started groggily, his eyes only half open and unfocused. When they landed on her they shot wide open and became fully aware.

"Why can't I wake up like this every morning?" He affectionally told her.

"Beck, you were having some kind of nightmare," Seeing her serious expression, his soft features fell, "You said Keller's name, then started rambling. You said Tron,"

The energy rushing through his ears drowned out everything and for a moment he froze in terror. What else had he said? What did she know?

Paige took his expression and stiff form in. Why had he incited such an overreactive response? Why did Tron have anything to do with it? What was the bigger picture? She felt that she was only looking at the corner of something far grander, and the fact that Beck seemed to be withholding the rest of it caused her stomach to turn. A restlessness that she barely kept back with the trust and faith she held deeply for the Program in front of her.

When he relearned how to breathe, the mechanic eased his racing body and formulated a plan.

"Sorry, it's just... the Occupation, the Games, that train ride... Bodhi... it's been hard for me lately. I can't sleep some nights..." he explained softly, his eyes shut and face hard in strain.

"Why'd you say Tron?" Paige asked gently, taking his hand and intertwining their fingers. The queasiness in her stomach faded with her understanding of the situation. Of course he had been through a lot, more than most. It was one of the many things she admired about his character and wished she could have every so often.

"I didn't want to tell you at first. I knew how you felt about the Renegade, and I figured you felt the same about Tron,"

The look she gave him comforted him and urged him to go on. She was far more open minded than when they had first met, and the thought alone surged hope and inspiration through Beck.

"I don't believe in what Clu says about Tron. Or the User. I've always seen Tron as a role model, I blame Abel for it. He knew him personally when Flynn was still creating the Grid. Before the ISO's. The stories he told me and the others, it drove us,"

As Beck talked, the fingers coiled around his became tighter. Paige started smiling sweetly as he spoke and seemed to have a weight lifted from her shoulders.

The tsunami of guilt quickly crushed his composure. Another story to cover for his true pain and hardship. Another lie. Another piece of him becoming hollow.

But as he reanalyzed Paige's loving gaze, he could feel his own storming emotions lift. There was a reason to hide. Protecting the ones he held most dear was the primary reason of becoming the Renegade, and so no one else would suffer the same fate as Bodhi. Others wouldn't have to lose a loved one.

Tron would probably had said it wasn't his own reason for securing the Grid, but find Beck's motivation honorable. But did that mean Tron was alone? Beck knew of Yori, at least Abel mentioned her in reference.

Sadly, she was gone now but would Tron have sacrificed the same for her as Beck would for Paige?

He came out of his head and focused once more on the woman in front of him. The brown hair that had fallen loose of its bun, strands and small bunches had crawled on her smooth tan skin. Her rich chocolate eyes were filled with sated love and tranquility. Her lids half covering the irises, along with the small smile of content from her full lips, made for the most beautiful expression.

Beck gently raised a hand and tucked the loose bits of unruly hair behind her ear. His finger gliding over her immaculate skin and lighting a fire in its trail. The searing hand rested on her angled cheek. The palm felt immensely more cooler than the concentrated intensity of one finger. Her blush that reached to her ears was his absolute favorite. The red that spread from her cheeks and covered her nose made the medic look more angelic.

His hand was met with another smaller one as it inches down her jawline.

"I'm glad you're here," he whispered softly.

"I'm glad I have you," she replied just as passionately. The gentle breath tickled his sensitive nose and he became aware of his own blush that must have matched her own.

Neither had been conscious of their actions, as if gravity was working for them, bent to their will by their love, the two had become closer to each other. Only a few centimeters separated their bodies. With nose tips tickling the other's, every silent hot breath was felt.

"We have each other," Beck murmured so quietly he wasn't sure he had even said it. By Paige's slightly wider smile, he guessed it had been.

Tentatively, like it was their first time, their lips met. Chaste at first but quickly becoming deep and hot as their passion drove them further. Her hands reached out and clung onto his broad back and strong neck, while his held her upper and lower back, pressing her into him. They only broke when their lungs screamed at them to, leaving the two panting and dazed. Once they had refilled their lungs, they were immediately joined again. Sometimes they were wildly passionate with how they regarded the kiss, and others they were harder and slower. Their lust overwritten by love and wanting to be engraved in the other's heart through an act.

It went on like that for quite some time. Alternating between many forms of lips pressed against each other, body arrangement, hand movements, etc.

* * *

"That was new," Paige muttered sheepishly as they stepped out of Beck's warm room. Her hands were busy placing her hair back into its bun.

"I like new," Beck responded as the door closed behind him.

Paige shot him a knowing look and felt the remnants of her blush return for a brief moment. They headed back towards the lift next to each other. Her hands still fiddled with her unkempt hair before Beck's found them and lowered them.

"I think your hair looks better down," he commented softly.

"Really? I haven't had it down in a long time,"

"Hey Beck!"

Both Beck and Paige suddenly froze as they heard the voice. The two felt as if they had just been caught trespassing into restricted areas and the gig was up. They shot each other a glance and grinned knowing the other had felt the same and ridiculous.

"What's up, Zed?" Beck turned around to see his friend running up to him with Mara in tow looking at them with suspicion.

"I was looking all- guk!" Zed stumbled when Mara bashed his side with her elbow. "We were looking for you guys after the power outage,"

"The power went out?" Beck asked, and looked to Paige to see if she knew anything. She shrugged her shoulders in return.

"Yeah, when the rain started. We lost power for a pectro," Mara explained," Where were you two?"

The two hesitated a moment and Mara couldn't help but notice the small movement they made to be closer to each other.

"We were sleeping, I guess we missed out on that," Beck answered with a sheepish hand running the back of his neck.

"You didn't hear us knocking?" Zed questioned with a slightly annoyed look.

"Guess we were both pretty out of it. Been running around lately," Beck answered again.

"Right..."

Paige felt Zed was the most gullible out of Beck's friends. When her eyes caught Mara's she knew that the cyan haired girl was not. Her bright blue eyes squinted dangerously at the former medic and Paige couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed while standing her ground with her own look.

"Mara?" Zed asked when he noticed the stare down happening.

Beck had already felt Mara's scrutinizing gaze on him and knew she was figuring things out. But before she said anything her face relaxed and a smile replaced what was on before.

"Nothing, it's nothing," she voiced with relief mixed into her joy.

Zed looked to the other two and found their smiles confusing.

"Did I miss something? Why was Mara-" he was suddenly dragged away when his companion looped her arm around his.

"Come on Zed, we should make sure Link doesn't hurt himself,"

"What? But what about Beck and..." his voice trailed off as he was whipped around a corner.

"Those two are quite the pair," Paige commented with a chuckle as she turned with Beck to walk onto the elevator.

"Yeah, they're pretty interesting," he responded with a smirk.

The elevator descended quickly and the two exited once the doors had opened.

"Are they together?"

"No, not yet,"

"Not yet?" Paige asked cocking her head slightly.

"Well... Zed is... as you saw, not that great at reading people. Mara on the other hand, doesn't really want to admit it to herself,"

"Does he like her in that sense?"

"Oh trust me. They're head over heels in love with each other, they just don't know it yet," the mechanic smiled brightly, "Only a matter of time,"

-memory-

The flight had been long, wet, and thoroughly uncomfortable. Paige wondered how long it had taken her to reach the edge of her destination. She was still a few dozen kilometers away, but the shimmering light on the horizon of the mountains edge flooded her with relief only found when at a long journey's end.

The weather was far warmer in this area of the Grid. It felt much like spring, warm moist air that smelled of fresh soil. Organic formations on the ground began to sprout again. The city and other landscapes felt clean, no lingering coats of old dusty particles as they were swept away in the refreshing showers of a new season.

That same feeling of cleanliness flowed through her with the memories of their last date.

So close she had been to entering a new perspective of helping the Grid, she was basically one step away. Of course her last step had been the hardest, but she stood back up with the help of her young love in her heart and the passionate rage she had come to befriend so long ago.

Maybe she could have returned to where she once was without Beck's love, but with her anger alone, she would have been altered, changed into something she could hardly recognize nor would she want to. She was strong on her own, but with him, when they were together, they were invincible.

Though he was gone, she would continue to stand. To fight. For his beliefs, and her own, because that's what they would have done together. Two sides of the same coin. A Yin and a Yang.

And as she stood against the perils, her devotion to a man who had started a revolution would never cease. She would never forget. Never let go, but move on if she had to.

Her body seemed to respond with her mind. With her solution, her body no longer felt cold or worn down by the moisture in the air. The hope and determination flowing through her igniting her skin with energy.

The afterburner of the engine kicked hard as she punched the pedal.

Thoughts of meeting the User felt minuscule now.

 _What do you have to say, Flynn?_

* * *

AN: Thanks for waiting, I've been struggling trying to get this chapter right for a while as I think this is a pivotal moment for Paige and explains why she's acted in such a tragic way since Beck's death.

My main issue has been not making Paige like other wrongly lead strong female roles Ex: Asajj Ventress, Mara Jade, Selina Kyle (Sorta). All these women have a snarky and sassy attitude that I love and what makes them fun, but I don't know how much of that is prominent in Paige. I think they all do it a bit differently. Different tones, select words, and places. The small details are the hardest to pick up and recreate. Asajj is husky and sultry, and I think relates to Paige the most in personality and history. Jade is feral, passionate, and aggressive. Kyle is… she's been interpreted many different ways, but she's more forward, and honest about her feelings, while also able to use them to her advantage. I'm kind of on a tangent here, but I wanted to explain myself a little.

The next chapter is going to be a bit different than others. Primarily inspired by another source.

I hope you enjoyed!

-Rose's Requiem


	19. Fuel To The Flames (Arc II 5)

Fuel To The Flames (Arc II 5)

* * *

The sounds of highly charged energy ring by was a familiar feeling. The orange colored plasma as it soared at an incredibly high velocity through the air, only to miss its target by mere centimeters, had quickly been a reoccurring event for the aerial assaults of the Defiance.

Bright ribbons of cast colors would fill the sky to face off against the orange armada. Bolts of light would tear ships apart and reign death upon machine and man alike, it seemed nothing was safe. Bombs would cripple flagships in the blink of an eye as heavy bombers broke through the front lines high above the ground with their escorts proving cover. Flak cannons and high speed anti air turrets were disabled and left the ships defenseless against the onslaught of artillery.

Planned, coordinated, and executed with speed and teamwork unrivaled, the Occupation stood little chance of preventing the guerrilla ambushes on their fleet.

"What are you doing? You imbeciles!" their General bellowed in his sickening grotesque voice at the crew inside the bridge. "Shoot them down! They're only fighters!"

"But sir, they've destroyed 85% of our anti air capabilities. And not all of them are fi-" the crew member decided to bite his tongue when he turned to face the deadly glare of Pavel. Eyes open in a mixture of disbelief at being talked back to, anger for being corrected by a subordinate, and a underlying current of crazed insanity.

"15% of our capabilities are still operation, _soldier._ That's more than enough to rid the sky of these _miscreant criminals_!" The primal rage was echoed perfectly into Pavel's voice straight into the soldier's face, and subsequently, his ears, which rang in pain after. "Are all our pilots out there? What is taking them so long?" Pavel snapped his attention to the captain of the carrier flagship at his position in front of the main console.

The captain, along with many of the other crew members in the bridge, wore less significant uniforms than most of the sentries and Black Guards stationed over the Grid. Assuming less armor and a lighter helmet, they looked less like the soldiers they were partially trained as, and more like the technicians and engineers they were programmed to be.

"The flights are taking off out of the hanger now, General Pavel," The captain answered, giving his best formal stance.

"Good. Perhaps they can take care of the renegades before we lose another of our destroyers," Pavel mumbled darkly mainly to himself, but was heard by everyone.

* * *

"Ridge, back off that jet! We're getting out of here!" Gavistan shouted over the radio in his helmet. One of the former gang members had started to pick a fight with one of Occupations jet pilots, causing him to stray out of the designated battle area, leading him dangerously close to the supporting warships with completely functioning AA abilities. The pilot he had engaged was clearly aware of his surroundings and was purposefully leading him away into a trap.

"Perl! Tell Ridge to get back or he's going to get himself derezzed!" the former soldier barked over to his fellow Specialist.

"Little busy!" she snapped back, the roar of her cannons firing could be heard clearly in the background. Gav swiveled his head around in an attempt to find her out of the dozens of jets and lights flying about. He quickly gave up on his search when he noticed four more squadrons of jets flying out of the hangar.

"This is Gavistan to all renegades! Fall back! Our mission is done! Get your asses out of here while you can!" Gav commanded over all radio frequencies. Taking a look back towards where he last spotted Ridge, the sight of a recently exploded jet along with an orange one returning to the fight made his stomach sink. They had lost a third person in this attack. Three Programs too many. Before the other fighter could reach him and start a dog fight, he flipped around in a vertical arc and punched his afterburners to make his escape back to the Outlands with the others.

"Repeat fall back!" he heard Zed calling over the radios.

It had been one of their riskiest attacks yet. Sticking mainly to the most stray and independent fleets to attack, the Defiance, lead once again by Tron, had decided on attacking one of the fleets on the edge of the massive horde of warships that loomed over Argon. Not as isolated, and with more fighters in patrol around the area, the fight had been more even for the Occupation. With more defensive capabilities, more allies, and faster response time, it was a miracle the Defiance hadn't lost more members.

Most of the rebels were grateful for Zed's cannon that had been installed on most of the jets. It wasn't the tide changer of the war by any means, but it did make attacking much easier. Only the Occupation kept their light ribbons on as they flew, which caused a massive amount of headaches and problems for both sides, but made it easier for the cannons to lock on and derezz the jets and their riders.

Zed's creation had saved many of his friends and brothers in arms, but whatever joy it brought him was drowned out by the sicking pit in his stomach that others were still lost.

* * *

The flight back was spent checking up on the survivors of the attack and checking if any serious injuries needed immediate attention. Thankfully, no one had been seriously wounded. Physically that is.

Gavistan was still trying to get close to the others of the rebel group, yet he still only considered himself close to Perl and the other Specialists. While time spent in Gage's gang was considerable, he still kept to himself and away from others, as he wasn't the only one of the group that were loner types. He hadn't felt the loss of a friend since the ISO wars, and while the loss of fellow soldier was hard, he knew he wasn't feeling the same as the others. That in itself made him sick to his stomach.

Everyone was exhausted, but not a single person had decided to head to sleep. Instead, they huddled up in the holo room to sit vigil for the friends they had lost.

And even though their tired bodies cried out in pain and requested sleep, every member sat to mourn their lost comrades. Only after half a pectro went by did the first program leave. Not too shortly after, the majority of the Defiance left the three large images of their fallen comrades and went to rest. Eventually, it was only Gavistan who starred from a distance at the static images.

"You need rest too," Perl said from his side. He didn't bother to acknowledge her, but she knew he was listening.

"Still doing the tough guy act?" She asked in a knowing and friendly tone, again she didn't expect a response. She sat down next to him and gently laid her hand on his knee. The man's brows crinkled in surprise as he finally tore away from his locked gaze.

"You've been like this since the first day I met you," she commented lightly. Her eyes wondered over to the three portraits. "You don't have to act so strong you know. Everyone feels pain and hardship. Living in Purgos teaches you that," she said with a slight frown. "I know you came from a place much worse, but that doesn't make the pain go away," she said turning back to face him. His still held most of his emotions behind the mask, but it was evident how the pain was slowly showing in his eyes.

"It's not that. I just..." a few different thoughts ran through his head at that moment. Still trying to figure it out for himself. "I don't know. Right now it's hard to think straight and..."

"I know," Perl said after he trailed off. "I just want to make sure you're okay," she said with a gentle smile, one of her genuine tells that she was open to her true side.

"I'll be okay, don't worry," he replied with his own curve of the lips. They sat in comfortable silence for a while longer. Sadly, the alarm that sounded through out the base broke their little world.

"What the hell is going on?" Gavistan asked as he shot to his feet. As if Tron had heard and everyone else's question.

"The industrial section of is being bombed! All able members report to the lower level to prepare for launch!" Tron shouted over the base's intercom.

It had barely been an pectro since the Defiance came back from their last sortie and already the enemy was making a counter attack.

"Why are they bombing the city?" one of the exhausted mechanics asked as he headed towards the elevator.

"Doesn't matter. We have to stop them before innocent Programs get derezzed," another one said with an equality tired tone, but with added vigor.

The first Program nodded his head with confirmation at his friend's state, and along with most of the rest of the Defiance headed for the lift. The weary pilots, knowing full well they would have to force their exhausted bodies into the air once more were understandably determined. Because of the consequences of what would happen if they decided to allow the Occupation to continue.

* * *

It almost felt unreal, like their small respite had only been a day dream. Filling the sky with multiple squadrons of fighters, the Defiance were flying as hard as they could push their baton jets to meet the enemy.

"I'll brief everyone as we go," Tron stated simply. "Pavel has ordered his bombers to level a section of the industrial area. Mainly, the areas around the garage. While he could be doing this because he thinks you mechanics are still occupying the structure, I doubt that's the true reason. This is most likely a trap. Keep your heads on a swivel and stick to your formations,"

The area around the bombing site had been cleared by the Occupation around the time the Super Recognizer had fallen, but since its total destruction, the area had been cleared and Programs were allowed to return back to their daily tasks.

The area was still heavily guarded and patrolled, the citizens with no where to go often forced to under go massive scrutiny and terrorism. The unlucky ones were taken away, never to be seen again. The Defiance could only watch as the population of Argon slowly dwindled under Dyson's hand and Pavel's twisted ruthlessness.

It wasn't long before they were nearing Argon's edge and could see the smoke trails.

"Were we too late?" one of the pilots asked in disbelief.

"No. The first bombing run must be complete, prepare for the second one. All pilots, engage," Tron commanded, hitting his after burners and heading toward the nearest flying capital ship.

"Is he nuts?" someone asked.

"He's Tron," another answered.

It wasn't long of a wait before a squadron of bombers and fighters came from the core of the fleet headed straight for Abel's garage.

"Engage!"

* * *

"Sir, the second set of bombers are approaching the target area,"

"Wonderful, hopefully this will be the end of some of those pestilent renegades," Pavel said in dark glee. His eyes were concentrated out the large viewing window of the bridge as he followed his third set of bombers leaving.

"General! We have reports of a lone fighter jet entering out perimeter!" one of the grunts called out from his console.

"What?! Just one?" the greasy Program shouted in outrage. How could only one fighter be there, they were bombing their precious little garage.

 _Surely… they couldn't have all been there…_ Pavel thought as his rage turned into joy, as evident by his gruesome facial expressions.

"Sir! It's avoided our bombers! It appears to be headed straight for us!"

"Perfect! Blast it out of the sky!" Pavel shouted. In the dark sky before him, he attempted to make out the small fighter. The moment he saw a sliver of white light, he blinked and realized that the lights weren't circuit lines, but energy bolts heading straight for them. He blinked again out of reflex as the glass and the entire room turned into chaos. Explosions caused by the jet's repeaters wracked the room in debris of computer and installations, most of the crew had been derezzed or suffered from a life threatening injury due to the attack.

As Pavel slowly opened his eyes again and rose from his fetal position on the ground, he looked down to find himself in otherwise perfect condition. He began a hard and loud cackle at his profound _skill_ to survive.

Soldiers and other crew members started to poor into the bridge accessing damage and assisting the wounded. Their General ignored all of them as he walked into the corridor.

"Sir, where-"

"Prepare my pilots! I'll be taking down this imposter once and for all!" Pavel barked back as he continued toward the hangar.

Another explosion rocked the carrier slightly but Pavel paid no mind to it as he walked onto the hangar floor.

"Your Lordship!" another annoying sentry called out to him before he could get to his jet.

"What. Is. It. _Soldier?_ " Pavel bit back with teeth clenched, his hands shaking in preparation to derez the Program.

"14 more squadrons of fighters have been spotted over the target area. They've shot down our second bombing formation,"

The Program was sudden lifted off his feet and flown towards the walls. The large thunk of his helmet and the disturbing smack of his body hitting the wall was the only sound before the roar of a large energy jet thruster consumed the ears of everyone in the area. Orange blurs flew through the hangar doors to meet the threat in the sky and cleanse them, permanently.

* * *

Maybe it wasn't the best option to attack the lead carrier head on, but Tron would have rather damned himself than let Pavel get away with animalistic chaos. He imagined that Beck would have probably fallen for the same temptation of anger, and felt proud at the thought. It managed to make him chuckle softly as he felt his admiration of Beck's determination to save life, even his greatest enemies. He was glad to find inspiration in his friend's mentality, even if he thought it was a weakness. Flashes of Paige snapped through his mind a nano after, making him question his belief. Maybe it wasn't always a weakness.

As he continued to avoid anti air fire and catch up to the third bombing flight, he was aware of another squadron of jets closing in on his location. By the looks of the 'V' formation, he could only guess Pavel had managed to survive his attack on the bridge.

He kept his focus forward for the time being and watched as the bombers rounded a small frigate. Once past the smaller battle ship he came to the open air battle that was over Abel's garage. To his shock, the Defiance had air superiority and even hijacked one of the bombers from the second assault wave, using it to destroy the heavy ships.

Tron was brought to his jet transmitter as it started picking up friendly communications again.

"Repeat! Third wave of bombers approaching combat area! Focus your fire on the targets," Tron heard one of overseer's of the battle call out over the radio. Another beep indicating new strategic information was about to voice rang through his helmet. "Tron has returned! Bogies on his six o'clock. All those not attacking the bombers, engage the incoming bandits!"

"New bandits are General Pavel and his personal fighters! Don't take them lightly!" Tron immediately cut in over the radio.

Another beep. "Check your IFF and make sure you don't fire on any friendlies!" Various squadrons called out in the affirmative before breaking off to take on their designated targets. Tron himself took a nose dive to separate himself from the others. Luckily, he had managed to attract Pavel to follow and was soon in a dogfight with the crazed Program.

"Stay with the other fighters! I'll take Pavel!" Tron commanded to the other pilots, before anyone could attempt to assist and likely get in his way.

A hail of shots ran around his canopy keeping him from pitching upwards or down. Slowly rolling to his right he yanked up on his controls and reduced his thrust to a minimum. A nano later, he heard, over actually seeing, his pursuer fly by under him. Tron leveled his jet out with a bit of extra power to the single turbojet engine, and was quickly on Pavel's tail. To his annoyance, Pavel had the advantage of using his light ribbon. Though they were a distance away from the others, Tron feared his trail would be hindering if not fatal to the other pilots in the air due to the shear quantity of them in one battle area. The new General of Argon's Occupation obviously had no concern for anyone other than himself.

Taking careful aim and making sure to avoid the orange light ribbon, the white clad Program squeezed the triggers on both of his flight sticks. The loud booming growl of the twin repeaters going off only a meter away from his head sounded immediately. His retaliation was sweet as he watched one of Pavel's wings get hit by a pair of rounds and combust into a cloud of fire and debris. Because of the damage, the jet yanked itself sharply to the left and began to lose altitude.

A beep was heard over his radio. "Tron, one of the bandits broke off and is headed your way,"

He looked over his shoulder and spotted the lone aircraft. His mind raced, weighting the best options for the current situation.

"I can't let Pavel get away, have a squadron deal with the pilot," Tron ordered over the radio.

"Roger. Wardog squadron, cover Tron as he deals with General Pavel,"

The General turned on his afterburners managing to make some distance between himself and Tron.

"This is Blaze, Wardog copies. Engaging," a completely new voice called out over the radio, one Tron hadn't heard before.

"Wow Kid, you're actually talking huh?" a much more jovial and shocked man called out.

"Knock it off, Chopper," a female voice said in an exasperated tone.

"He does have a point Edge," a distinctly younger and less confident voice spoke.

Tron was about to ignore the conversation and repoint his focus towards Pavel as he followed the jet that was turning back towards the direction of the Occupation fleet, but was pulled away one last time when the youngest sounding called out directly to him.

"Sir, this is Archer. Would you like help dealing with the General?" Archer asked Tron.

"No, I-" he started but was cut off by the one called Chopper.

"Don't be an idiot, man! We're deep in enemy territory, you may be Tron, but you're not invincible!" the loudmouthed pilot spoke vehemently.

"Chopper! That's Tron you're yelling at!" Edge reprimanded.

"Wardog, you take care of the lone bandit. I'll fly as Tron's wingman," Blaze ordered firmly over the radio. Tron figured he was the leader of their group as the other's complied with his orders.

Another beep over the radio. "All pilots, we have a massive amount of bogies incoming. Recognizers, Light Copters, Single, Double, and Triple seater jets are coming our way. Looks like they've finally got the rest of the fleet to mobilize their units,"

Tron held his curse in as he watched Pavel's damaged but still mobile jet in front of him. He damned his luck as he wished he could have weakened Pavel's engine to slow him down. His dark thoughts were broken by the arrival of another jet to his right side.

"Sir," was all Blaze said as he flew into the basic cover position.

"You shouldn't be here. You'll only slow me down," Tron said lowly, not trying to being harsh on account of his anger.

"We'll see,"

The pilot was confident, Tron had to give him that.

"Defiance, start pulling back. Their bombers are taken care of and their fleet has been heavily damaged. Our objective is complete. RTB," Gavistan ordered.

Tron was about to pull up on the his flight sticks but was interrupted by a volley of bullets coming from his left. Before he could react, his wingman was already firing back and headed straight for the incoming squadron. He was definitely confident but he seemed to be bordering on too cocky. Thankfully, Tron wouldn't have to be staying for anymore vigils as he watched in amazement as the brash pilot managed to down all four of the opposing jets.

"Damn! Kid's as amazing as ever!" Chopper called out. Tron glanced back and noticed the rest of the Wardog squadron closing the distance. Apparently Blaze had noticed their path as well and wasn't too pleased.

"Wardog, return to base!" He barked at them as he made his own way out of hostile air.

"Roger," Edge replied in a somewhat relieved voice. But she had relaxed too soon.

A hail of bullets surrounded Blaze and Tron, forcing the two to flank off in opposite directions. Edge's voice was a distant noise in the background as the two Programs danced their way through enemy fire. The tingling on the back of their spines was consuming. The G-forces, the cold, the wind all fell away to the sensation on their backs as they prayed none of the projectiles aimed at them would make their mark. Only bolts that were close enough to make the hair on their skin rise, the air to vibrate with deadly heat, and whisper a vile warning for what would be next, did they acknowledge.

In their struggle for survival, they had been lead south of the city, at the beginning of the mountain ranges. And eventually, they had managed to put some distance between them and the Occupation pilots.

"Blaze!" Edge's rasp shout brought the two out of their post hyper tension state.

"Edge, we're okay, where are you?"

"We were following you Kid! If it wasn't for us, you two would be nothing but blue sprinkles out here in this frozen wasteland!" Chopper yelled, his tone about their derezzed bits gave me everyone's stomach a sickening flip. Something about the imagery did not sit well.

Both Tron and Blaze looked back to spot the rest of Wardog squadron, but with the background of Argon's hazy lights and the large band of Occupation pilots chasing them, there was no sign of them.

"We're flying low and making our way over to you two," Archer informed.

"Hold out guys, looks like they're coming to reengage!"

Sure enough, the orange lines and dots were growing in size. If only fuel were infinite, they would be able to keep their afterburners on and escape the pursers.

"Blaze," the leader of the Defiance called out to get the man's attention.

"Sir," he complied.

"I know you can handle yourself, conserve energy, don't waste any shots. I'll make sure they don't get too close to your back,"

"I'm leading?" Blaze asked slightly taken aback.

"Between you and me... I'm not the best pilot. These things are past my time,"

He was met with silence and Tron figured the usually quiet Program had nothing else to say. The sharp exhale of air sounded over the radio and it took him a moment to realize Blaze had chuckled.

"Old man,"

The two broke left, with Blaze in the lead as the dogfight began. Their spines began their paranoid tingling once more as the munitions surrounded them.

"Break right! Try to get behind some of them!" Blaze barked as he dove straight down.

With a hard pull on the yoke, Tron was subjected to the intense forces of acceleration in a new direction. Before the energy could leave his head he leveled out and continued rolling and moving about to make it hard for his enemies to land their shots.

Another sudden pull, and he was headed skyward toward the clouds. He was surrounded by the mists of clouds with glowing foggy orange lightning blindly running parallel to him. The shots never stopped, even as he broke free of the clouds and yanked his jet once more. This time he flew upside down and could see the uneven ocean of clouds covering the vast expanses of the Outlands. These clouds were thicker than normal harmless clouds. They spoke of harsh rains and rolling thunderous crashes of lightning in the future. Large shattering spears of pure light and energy warping back and forth within unseen areas of the billowing mass.

Tron had only taken a second to let this thoughts wonder before he dove back into the clouds. He hoped his little detour through the clouds would buy him some time. When he reappeared below the growing plumbs of water vapor, he was surprised by the fight that had unfolded.

Blaze was hard on the tail of an enemy bandit with the others scrambling to get into position behind him. While Tron hadn't counted the exact amount that had followed him and Blaze, he was fairly certain his comrade had already taken out a few of their pilots. In such sort of time, it seemed almost impossible. Tron watched as the orange jet was fired upon and exploded into a fiery display of shrapnel and black smoke.

Before the two bandits could line up properly, Tron had reigned hell on one and pressured the other one with psuppressing fire.

Everything was reactionary in their dogfight. Enemy movements to avoid being derezzed were met with hairline precision to counter and eliminate. The small twitch of the yoke as he focused on the orange bird in front him. Digital lines of burning white code following behind the bird by a few meters seemed so natural, that when the target erupted into flames like so many others, it seemed odd that the constant stream of white was no where to be seen or felt vibrating through the jet as the repeaters blasted.

When the group that had followed Tron into the clouds had realized what had happened and returned to the combat zone the fight had evened out. No longer were the two alone but a full squad of trained aces soaring in the sky in tight formation.

"Good to see you still going Kid," Chopper commented smoothly.

"Captain's skill is no match for the enemy," the younger added.

"Blaze really is amazing," Edge complimented with soft airiness.

"Alright Wardog, cut the chatter. We're going to take care of these bandits and get home safely, got that?" Blaze's voice was bold and distinctly filled with determination that only leader's possessed.

"Wardog 2, roger,"

"Wardog 3, roger,"

"Wardog 4, roger,"

"Wardog, engage!"

The dark skies of the Outlands lit up once more with the timelessness of battle.

How many times could one sky house the battlefield of war? How many lives would have to be sacrificed for freedom and peace? When would the light of justice and righteousness prevail and overthrow the corrupt?

"Archer, on your six! Roll!"

Can a mountain truly be changed by a single pebble. Is change worth the cost of such destruction that the mountain is no longer recognizable.

Does it matter who sits upon the top, when all that's left is ash.

"Chopper! You're trailing smoke!"

"We have to run! There's more of them coming!"

War is senseless, but seemingly unavoidable. It is instinctual in human nature to fight for survival. Of course that trait would be passed down into man's intelligent creations.

"Go! I'll hold them off!"

"There's too many, Tron!"

"I'll lead them to the city! Get your squadron home safely, Captain. That's an order,"

No one wants to die.

That is true for all intelligent beings. But there are those willing to sacrifice the absolute most for their allies and friends. In hopes that they can right the wrong that was made.

"Wardog, return to base!"

"Tron you can't do this! We need you!"

"This is more than me! You all can do this, with or without me! I fight for the Grid. I fight for the Users! You fight for each other!"

"Tron!"

 _Survival._

 _That's what I'm best at. Thank you Alan-1._

* * *

They knew. Out of the five Defiance members cornered in the unforgiving Outlands, they had followed and pursued Tron when he broke away from the rest. It wasn't hard to tell the difference. It was rare for Programs to have a complete set of white circuit lines, it only made sense that they follow him.

The engine gave a short cry and jolt as the energy suddenly faltered. The white light ribbon that followed him showed to have a couple breaks in it for the small error. The baton that stuck to his leg felt heavy to his senses, as if the necessity of it added to its weight.

His chest expanded and contracted as he took a deep breath. He had a very small window of opportunity to make his switch effectively. Too long and he wouldn't have anytime to pull up, too short and he wouldn't have the time needed to escape death by energy bolts. So he waited for the perfect moment.

The sudden jolt of the jet engine dying, and he flung himself from the seat. A quick guess with his eyes told him he had about one minute before his body would reach the ground. It would take him at least ten seconds to fully form his second baton, another seven to fully level himself out. He guessed that the Occupation wouldn't realize he wasn't in his old failing jet for at least another 15 nanos, that left him with a 28 second window to pull out the baton and increase his chance of escape. It left only one issue.

Program error. Like the Users that created them, panic can set it when a Program is in a high stress, life or death, situation. Fear grips any sane Program with an iron gauntlet and refuses to let go. Breathing shortens into panicked hiccups, thoughts slow to uselessness or quicken to frantic pandemonium. In the event of free falling without a Light Chute, one command cycles through the head.

Pull that damn jet out and stop descending to certain death.

While Tron was nothing close to a normal Program, he couldn't outright say he had felt calm about the ordeal. With nearly no visibility of the ground, he had to trust his judgement on it being only a minute drop. As the edges of Argon's lights became dimmer as he plummeted downward, he couldn't help but panic and think he had grossly overestimated the time he had to pull his baton. Another deep breath and control reigned over him. Whether he die crashing into the ground, he had no choice but to wait for his timeframe to come or else he die in the air.

… _13…_

… _14…_

… _15!_

The parts formed around his body, glowing with energy to move them correctly into place. When everything had finally come together he pulled as hard as possible on the yoke. The G-force was near unbearable for the short _four_ seconds instead of seven he approximated, but he still thanked the Users for his luck. Then immediately cursed it.

He dove to avoid a high hanged cliff. With crazed maneuvering, he turned his jet sideways as it fell into a narrow ravine and found he could see the sparkling surface of the rough stone that was above his head. Before that sparkling stone became his death, he back upward out of the death canyon.

 _I'm getting to old for this…_ Tron mused, as he came into close view of Argon.

* * *

"Why aren't we going after him!" Chopper barked over the radio. For a moment, he was met with silence, and the burning in his ears only pissed him off further. "Guys! Are you serious!?"

"What else can we do? We probably don't even have enough energy to make it back to base, how are we supposed to help Tron? We'll just end up getting derezzed!" Edge snapped back violently.

"Or worse…" Archer added timidly.

"Or wo-"

"Chopper, shut it. We can't do anything to help Tron. If we did go, we'd only manage to get in his way, he's not like us," Blaze explained with clipped tones. They all loved Chopper, but sometimes, the loud mouth of the Wardog family could get in their nerves. They didn't blame him, but yelling and screaming about an impossible situation wouldn't fix it.

* * *

The buildings never seemed to hostile and predatory. Looming dark skyscrapers lined with orange red circuits dominated the area. Even in the darkness of the small clustered alleyway, Tron felt highly exposed by the peering gaze of the structures around him.

Patrols roamed the streets and other small back roads behind the buildings, every solider on high alert. He had been on the run for the past 20 minutes, and only just lost his seekers.

The burning in his legs was an old friend who had come to join him in his escapades. He had missed it. The excitement, the stress, the responsibility, everything felt right. While others broke under the pressure, Tron strived on it, was emboldened by its pressure and presence.

A light passed through the alleyway and he stilled his breathing as he heard the distant chatter of sentries. Boxes and garbage stood between him and the soldiers, which he heard getting louder and their footsteps becoming violent as they stepped on trash and other useless debris. Their distorted voices grew so loud, he could have sworn they were already on top of him.

Static electricity seemed to fill the air as he waited for the two to find him and sound the alarm. But to his relief, the footsteps started up again and quieted away.

He let out a long sigh and slumped against the dumpster. The weathered blanket he found and tossed over himself had apparently done its job of concealing him. If it wasn't for the smell of rotten goods, he'd almost consider his current placement comfortable.

Instead of enjoying the small respite, he took the chance to climb from his cover and make his way towards another hiding spot, and possibly to the coliseum.

Peering around the corner of a building, he observed the two squads of Black Guards and sentries walking in line with tanks. On the other side of the road, it was much of the same. If he ran through the street fast enough he'd probably manage to make it before any of them noticed. He'd just have to time it correctly.

* * *

Back at the Outland's hideout the Defiance were waiting with exhausted bodies for Tron and Wardog's return. The Specialists sat around the table in the meeting room. Mara and Zed rested there heads on their arms as pillows, Perl was leaning back in her chair to the point she was on the edge and in danger of slipping off, while Gavistan was the only one who managed to seem semi alert and awake in his seat.

A small red blipping single popped up on the major hologram monitor Tron favored. Before anyone could move to it, the elevator doors opened and the four pilots of Wardog filed out in a frantic state. The Specialists scrambled out of their seats and headed out to meet the squadron.

"What happened out their? Where's Tron?" Gavistan was first to speak.

"He headed back towards Argon to get the Occupation off our tails," Archer responded before bending over and propping himself on his weak legs. He, like his team, were breathing hard and out of breath.

"What? Why didn't you-" Mara started but was cut off.

"No energy in our batons, don't you think we would have helped him if we could?" Edge snapped with aggravation.

"We have to go then! We can't let him get Repurposed!" Zed exclaimed.

Before anyone moved, the lights in the entire hideout started to dim and a feminine voice spoke out.

"Alert, Priority 3 protocol. Alert, Priority 3 protocol,"

"The hell is that?" Perl murmured.

"Let's find out," Gav was already entering the conference room and headed to the main monitor with the others catching up.

He tapped the red blipping alert and it enlarged to an personnel information document titled Rinzler. Little was on the actual page. There wasn't a picture and the only noted information stated that the Program was a trusted highly ranked member in Clu's army.

In large glowing orange letters that flashed across the middle of the document it read:

TARGET DETECTED WITHIN ARGON

* * *

The first step Tron took he knew it was a mistake. The guards seemed to turn and face him, tanks and bikes were angled in his direction and two Black Guards appeared from the alleyway he had planned to duck into.

His boots slid across the ground as he tried to bolt back into the alley he had just come from, only to hear a soft purring emanating from it.

Slowly turning around, he was met with a Black Guard. At first, he didn't have any defining features that made him stand out besides the soft purr, but on closer inspection the subtleties were there.

The Program's helmet was more angular in the front, it was the largest discrepancy from other guards. The bottom of it was angled like a bobbed haircut, where it met in the front with a flat sheet of the visor. The Program didn't have any tubing running to the mask so he figured there wasn't a filter.

Based on the body structure, Tron figured it was indeed a male as he suspected. Looking over the armor that looked more like the titan hard scales of a dragon than a regular suite. The small circuit lines that all Black Guards had near their shoulders, waist, and feet were present. What was different were the faded circuit lines that ran through suite. Neither removed or destroyed, the circuit lines that were purposely faded and masked appeared to be the remnants of the owners natural circuit lines. Large circuits would have passed over his chest leading down to his belt. Smaller paths followed a similar path from his upper abs. The belt region had two circles over where his hip bones would be, followed by lines that ran around his waist and met with other circles in the back. Each circle had a medium sized circuit running down his legs and ended behind his knee. The theme was similar upon his arms where the circles above his collar bone area had circuits running down his arms and met with circles on the top of his hands.

The helmet, the circuit lines, the taut battle ready stance all pointed to one Program.

 _Anon_...

Flashes of memories ran through Tron's mind. Radia, Abraxas, Clu's betrayal... then first time meeting Anon popped through the terrible sequences of flashes.

He had been sent to the far out I/O Tower by Flynn to pick up his new security Program. The "rogue" Programs he had encountered on his way to the tower were suspect of course, but at the time how could he have known about Clu's mutiny? Especially since he was too focused on his own feelings about the new System Monitor.

Tron had been unsure of introducing a new System Monitor to the Grid, at least one of Tron's caliber, possibly greater. He had berated himself for feeling _jealous_ and focused on his primary function. This new monitor would help secure the Grid, he would be an ally, not a replacement.

This was Flynn's Tron. Who had supposedly sacrificed his all to save the last ISO. Apparently not.

"So, he's turned you too," Tron spoke slowly almost defeated. Another friend lost to Clu's corrupted power and wrath.

Anon didn't respond, simply turned his head slightly as if curious or confused about the statement. His purring continued.

"You don't even remember your name do you, Program?"

The soldiers circled around him and closed off any escape. He was truly trapped without a way out.

"The User himself created you. Flynn! Your name is Anon, do you remember any of it?" Tron barked and stood closer, the anger clearly radiating off his body.

It was dangerous to get close to this Program, but it was probably more of a risk keeping distance. Flynn had told him about the upgrades he had made to the Program after he sent him to save Quorra. This Program was no longer at Tron's level of skill and power. He was far above it.

When Rinzler made no response to Tron's accusations it was clear nothing remained within the young Program. Tron took a step back and pulled his disc out and readied his stance. The mass amount of soldiers and vehicles that tracked him seemed to grow tense and prepared themselves. Rinzler slowly pulled his disc from his dock and held it loosely at his side, his body relaxed for such a serious fight.

"I see,"

"Rinzler,"

* * *

It was suspiciously empty in the large hangar. A majority of the jets, Recognizers, and light copters were missing, presumably lost, while the personnel that usually floated around and maintained the hangar were no where to be found.

Pavel had returned alone, his squadron lost to the skies because of their incompetence. The rest had been sent after the supposed Tron. He knew it wasn't the real hero, just an imposter slandering a once great Programs name and legacy. Another vile ruffian to further cause more issues and annoyances to the progress of a more refined city.

The door opened automatically before he passed through it and into the maze of halls that was his flagship. Something told him things weren't right as he continued, but he brushed it off as nonsense.

It wasn't until the fourth turn in a series of corners did he finally realize why his instincts were nagging. There weren't any crew members or soldiers at their posts. The ship was empty.

He disk sparked on and felt his circulator beat rapidly. Adrenaline mixed energy coursed through his body as he quickly headed to his chambers. A wave of security washed over his senses as he thought of his savior.

He internally breathed a sigh of relief when he came to his door. A quick code entry and he was in. In an instant, his closet was raided and found the box that held the disc mod. It felt on the brink of hot in his hands, the power melting through the thin digital code of storage container. He was blinded by the short flash of light as the box derezzed and in his hands was... nothing.

A moment he froze, his mind spinning like a tire on ice, unable to find traction and understand the situation. For a second it felt like a dream, as if he had just fallen asleep and once he opened his eyes the power would be there, in his grasp. But when he blinked and nothing changed the anger set it.

His closet erupted into a tornado as the items were launched from their homes on the shelves. When everything was moved, damaged, or best destroyed, he moved onto the rest of his room. It suffered the same fate.

All his power, the strength, the coherency of thinking and moving ten times than normal, the unbridled, pure intoxication of anger that flowed from the disc mod, gone.

He felt his arms and fists bruised and batter from their assault. Soft stinging pain that wasn't truly registered, only noted. His mind was too far away to give it the time of day.

Who ever had stolen HIS modification, HIS POWER, would be executed. Anyone who was found in content with the heist would suffer the same fate. No one would escape his judgement.

It wasn't until the large doors of the main hanger appeared before him did he realize he had walked himself through the ship. It was convenient. He was going to find Dyson and force an explanation out of him about his men.

When he stepped into the hangar, he remembered one small but important issue. His jet was still damaged from the dog fight with TRON.

It was not Pavel's best cycle.

* * *

The repetitive tapping filled the room as the soldiers and their leader waited. Four Black Guards, former system monitors that worked along side Tron, stood around the room with a single man in the middle. His fingers drummed against the table impatiently waiting for the General of Argon to appear before him in a fit of rage.

It was all planned. Once Pavel had failed to operate a fleet appropriately and lost a few of the larger Destroyer and Frigates to the Defiance, Dyson knew that the General was a mistake. The fleet he had sent over the Industrial District was small compared to the majority of Clu's fleet that was left behind, but the fact that he had carelessly thrown them away for no results had made it deplorable.

 _Drunk with power._ Dyson thought idly. He had once been that way, when Clu repaired his code to his damaged face. From what he remembered, Clu had simply mirrored the code on his right side and formed it to cover his left as well. It fixed the issue, but it also meant that any damage to his body would be reflected to the other side as well. There was an easy solution to that small problem. Don't get hit. Perfection was that simple.

Now, he knew better. He was not perfect, not by any means. He was not invincible, nor was he clever in the same way Clu was. But that's where he shined, he knew his limitations, and he was better for it.

Dyson sighed and looked at the others around him. He wished he could've said the same about the others in Tron's former task force. Apparently, the other system monitors weren't of the right mindset to be unaltered. Times like this, he wished they had been. Ever since their reprogramming they were dreadfully boring and robotic like many of the others. Clu had mentioned that they weren't modified as much as others, yet Dyson could hardly tell the difference. Only their unique body types separated them from any average Black Guard.

"Anything on your mind? Anything running through your heads?" Dyson made small talk, expecting the usual response.

"No sir, we are ready for the General's arrival," one of them said. Dyson had forgotten that the other thing that made them stand out were their voices. Darker, flatter, and harshly digitalized by the helmets, there base sounds were the same. But he hadn't cared to keep track of them anymore. So when they responded, he honestly didn't know which one it was that said it.

"I'm sure you are…" Dyson drawled, his eyes rolling in his head.

God it was lonely to be intelligent.

Time passed slowly until one of their communicators went off.

"Sir, General Pavel has arrived,"

"Send him up. I'm dying of boredom,"

It took far longer than he expected, or wanted, for Pavel to finally appear in the entrance with four Black Guards escorting him.

"Ahhh Pavel, I've been _waiting_ for you, for… how long has it been?" Dyson started in an upbeat tone.

"One pectro, and thirty seven micros," one of the guards answered.

"Longer than I was hope-"

"Where are my soldiers?" Pavel snapped, his hands slapping down on the table between him and Dyson. The pure rage that filled Pavel's eyes amused him. It was just as he expected; the fool would act so uncivilized.

" _Your_ soldiers? I believe these are _Clu's_ soldiers. This is his ship. We are under his command. This is _his_ army,"

"I know he's not here! _You_ did this!"

"Seeing that you're so well informed, do you know that he left me in charge? You may have been General of this city, but clearly you follow in the same footsteps as Tesler. Incompetent, grossly underestimate your enemies, blind, and _weak_ ," Dyson stood from his chair and starred down Pavel's flinching frame. Each jab at his character had made him twitch backwards ever so slightly, his rage now internalized and no longer flowing off him in waves, only his eyes held any remaining fury.

"Y-You can't do this! I control this contemptible city! It is _nothing_ without my direction!" Pavel spat flustered.

"Oh, it is worthless then?" Dyson said as walked around the table and started to pressure Pavel outside of the room. The eight Black Guards followed with a lag.

"Without my influence it is!"

"Then why would our supreme leader wish to contain the sector? Why would he care if it was so _contemptible_ as you say?"

"I-"

"Let me tell you this, Program. You are insignificant to Clu's grand design for the Grid. You are powerless without his permission. You have squandered your power, sooner than I imagined you would. So as his faithful accomplice, I and stripping you of said power,"

Dyson continued until they reached a small hangar on the side of the carrier. His hands were held tightly behind him while he walked confidently. Pavel still walking backwards, not able to stand his ground.

"You are worthless without us," Dyson muttered darkly. A repulsive glower stained his face as he waited for Pavel to react.

A wild gab was thrown at his face, which he easily dodged. It was followed by a furious holler and Pavel's disc swinging down on him in Pavel's offhand. Again, he easily ducked out of the way and continued to easily move away from the blind swings that were aimed in his direction. The guards stood back, waiting patiently for any signal for their assistance.

Dyson quickly grew tired of Pavel's aggression. With practiced swiftness, he took his disc out and blocked Pavel's oncoming swing. It reflected the attack and set Pavel up for another immediately after. This time, Dyson deflected the disc purposefully outward, leaving his enemy open. He quick stepped forward and elbowed the General in the face with lightning speed. He watched as Pavel stumbled backwards and eventually fell onto the ground.

 _What a pitiful excuse for a General._

"Pavel, from this moment, you are no longer General of Argon. You, and pray I don't decide to change my mind, are being demoted back to your Commander status. I believe Clu did have something in mind for you when he promoted you instead of the much more proficient Commander Paige, so you may thank him for me not derezzing you at this very moment,"

Pavel glared up at Dyson's retreating form. It was over in a flash, defeated by one move and left to the Black Guards who began to circle him.

"You are to report to the _Demonstrator_ immediately, Commander," one of the guards informed him. A sick gleam came to Pavel's face as he thought of something would sate his anger.

Bolting up, he lunged at one of the Black Guards with his disc ignited. He expected it to be easy, cutting through and destroy the code of the guard without any resistance, but when his disc was parried once again, he felt surprise, shock, and lastly, fear well up inside him.

"This is your one and only warning, Commander," the group around him ignited their discs and even though he couldn't see their eyes, Pavel could tell they were all glaring with premeditated thoughts and actions at the ready.

"You _will_ go the Destroyer _Demonstrator_ and await further orders. Any action that do not meet this directive will be met with hostility and you will be derezzed,"

"Understood…" Pavel answered weakly, swallowing with his mouth dry as salt.

Definitely his worst day.

* * *

Boots marched on through the main hangar of Tesler's old command ship. Dozens of Black Guards, sentries, and other personal escorted the one prisoner. One Program with enough skill, experience, and strength to derezz everyone around him. His disc was locked and his limbs were chained together by light cuffs, retaining him from fighting back.

Tron gazed around with his eyes as he was lead by Rinzler and half of the stationed troops to whatever prison cell they'd be keeping him in. His mind raced with what decision would have to be made.

Should he wait for the Defiance to attempt a rescue? Surely Rinzler would have his prison guarded with maximum security, the losses for the resistance would be far too great for one man.

Could he make his own escape? Possibly, but the chances of it were slim. At least it would mean the Defiance would be out of harms way.

Should he take his own life? As a last resort, he had to. If Clu managed to repurpose him as he did with Anon, then all hope was lost.

Were there any other options? He knew his luck wouldn't be so great to have an escape from an inside source again. Cyrus had been a fluke, and Tron knew it. Paige, the one Program to have any chance of getting him out by herself and escaping with him was thousands of kilometers away. Pavel? Tron had nothing to offer the slim ball to convince him to change sides, at least to help him get away. He knew that the Program had no sense of loyalty to anyone besides himself.

Tron looked up to watch Rinzler's back. He wasn't sure how far gone Anon was, if Clu wanted to keep his advanced system monitor abilities and disc mods intact, he couldn't have fully repurposed him. For what he could tell, that was the case. His stance, his attire, and the purring, someone fully reconfigured wouldn't have those. But at this point, could he be saved?

His musings continued as they locked him in his cell. Apparently, a good majority of his resolution would be spent in prison cells. Whether they be under Sark's and the MCP's watch, or Clu's.

He didn't respond to Rinzler's prolonged stare from outside the light barrier and only looked up when everyone besides the guards had left. Clu was, hopefully, still in Tron City, and the Super Recognizer had been destroyed. His repurposing was sometime off, which Tron thanked his User for. It gave him plenty of time to strategize and plan.

His eyes caught the empty cell next to his, and he let his mind wander away from the planning. He imagined that he wasn't alone. In the next cell over, he imaged Ram flipping his older style disc, practicing, and preparing for combat. His infectious smirk always aimed towards Tron, one he seldom returned.

He was so serious back then. When his programming was all he knew, Users and following their instructions. It was a different time, in a different world. Now, resistance was met with detainment, but not for the sole reason of fighting in the Games. It only meant a fate worse then deresolution. But even some of the Programs from the old system weren't so lucky to die in the arena. Dumont, and the other Tower Guardians, were drained of their functions, their power, their energy. The already too powerful Master Control drinking it in with pleasure.

Maybe times weren't so different as he thought.

If only Beck were here. He would shine a light on the situation.

 _Or maybe he'd be off with his Commander._ Tron mused with a smirk. _You were right about her._

With his youth's pairing, he thought of his own partner.

 _Yori…_ Dozens of images flashed through his mind, all of them bringing a smile to his face.

Even in death, the two brightest lights in his heart still shined on. A boy who had captured the same desire and determination that inspired Tron. And a woman who granted safety, security, and warmth that he hadn't known before.

Though they were gone, he still had one light to count on. The one who helped him secure the Grid, all those cycles ago.

 _Flynn._

* * *

AN: Here's another chapter! Sorry for the wait.

If this chapter seems different in dialogue and style in general, that's because this is inspired by an older game I used to play and couldn't help myself. I did want to make this story more war stylized while keeping the… cartoon like nature, but oh well.

Other names and characters in this chapter are taken from Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War, but they won't be delved into. Just minor characters that help fight the battle.

If you have a PlayStation I would recommend playing the game. It's missions are slightly repetitive but if you let yourself get involved in the story, it feels super intense. Just watch the trailer on YouTube.

At first I wanted to have Pavel and Dyson rough it out more, but as I was writing I realized how poor of a fighter Pavel really is. I figure he's a cheapshoting SOB who doesn't have any real fights, just slashes people when they can't defend themselves. So, no experience, doesn't train cause he's arrogant, and was relying on the disc mod more than anything.


	20. Love's Dawn (Arc II 6)

Love's Dawn

* * *

Pectrocycles. A measurement of time. Often, they feel too short when there's something to be done. Sometimes, they're long and drawn out, like a bad cold. Always thinking about the end when it's only just begun, and it drones on and on, usually at its worst in the middle. But when nearing the end, the anticipation of being free can make crossing the finish line that much more satisfying, or extend the time by another ten imaginary minutes. The only difference between a bad cold and a long hour though… colds usually wait a few months before coming back, long hours can repeat instantly. More like torture than a cold.

The Doctor of Death, Paige scoffed at the name, felt miserable. How many hours had she spent on top of her baton jet? 14? Three cycles of travel was basically a form of torture. She lost count of how many times she wished she could have stowed away on freight trains or other transportation. She had talked to Tron about her travel arrangements and every normal or subtle way of moving using public options were impossible. The guards were on high alert around the system, and nothing was more suspicious than a Program with two discs.

An unfamiliar beeping brought her attention to the small box that was magnetized to the front of her small dashboard. The box was Tron's mapping of the area and apparently alerted her to when she was in the vicinity of Flynn's hideout.

She scanned the area for the mountain that stood out against the flatter areas of the Outlands.

Brilliant place to hide, a mountain that's in the middle of an open area. At least Tron's is mixed in with other mountain ranges. Paige rolled her eyes. She could still see Tron city if she turned her head, so distance wasn't exactly the greatest either.

Soon enough, the small jagged edges of the Outlands stopped looking menacing and evened out. From there, she could see the lone mountain that stabbed up from the ground. Nothing made any obvious signs that it was inhabited but once she was within a few hundred meters, the light from a window or opening made on a plateau was clear. She had finally arrived.

Circling around a few times, she decided on landing on the road. No other entrances were clear from up in the sky and she assumed they didn't have a landing pad of any sort. In a few millis she was grounded and walking up to a low tunnel connected to the ground. The ceiling looked barely high enough to let someone on a Light Bike to get through, an odd design for sure. Thankfully, there was a small path parallel to the opening and the medic made use of it.

It was a long climb, but it felt amazing to finally stretch and open up her body. On her way, she preformed various combat moves and styles she developed, the waves of relief and familiarity washing over her. There was nothing quite like sinking back into a routine dance or formation. With it, problems and issues seemed to melt away and become insignificant. A reset of perspective.

Another half a pectro passed before she reached what was the beginning of a garage. The ground smoothed out until becoming formatted ground with walls to match. It was long, similar to the garage in Tron's hideout, perhaps narrower than the legendary Program's home. Near the middle, a four wheeler that Paige had never seen before was parked. It explained the odd dimensions of the tunnel.

The medic froze when she saw a person moving behind the car. They hadn't noticed her yet and Paige realized with horror, she had no plan on how to introduce herself to two people who were hiding from nearly every Program in the Grid. The person closed whatever panel she had open but was facing opposite of Paige, letting her get a great view of the Program's features.

Black short cropped hair, a taller fit frame, the circuit patterns and armor. It was Quorra.

Paige's immediate response was to cut her in half, avenge the Programs who were mercilessly slaughtered because of her, but she stopped herself. Her eyes closed and she breathed in deeply, maybe the disc mod was getting to her, maybe it was the long flight over, maybe it was a lot of things. Once she had calmed, she decided the best thing to do was to be forward and just get it over with.

Determinedly, she made her way over to the car, her footsteps alerting the ISO. Quorra immediately flipped around in shock before relaxing at Paige's presence.

"You scared me. I expected you to come in the same way Tron did," Quorra commented, her hand over her racing heart.

"What way did Tron come in?" Paige asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The window,"

"Figures," An awkward silence filled the garage as the two didn't know how to talk to each other.

"You grew out your hair," Quorra commented weakly.

"Yeah… Had it in a bun before this."

"It looks lovely," she complimented genuinely. Another heavy pause.

"About before…" Paige started hesitantly, her brown orbs a mix of emotions.

"I'm sorry about what I did," Quorra blurted out.

"It's alright, I understand why you did it. You… you saved my life," Paige admitted softly, her expressions softening up.

"No I didn't," the ISO muttered darkly, her eyes downcast, "I endangered you and killed everyone who was there."

"Tesler did that. Not you. Those losers who attacked you are more at fault than you," Paige countered sharply. Tesler… she couldn't believe how foolish she was to be lead by his lies.

"I know. Flynn tells me repeatedly that I'm not the one to blame. But… he blames himself for everything that's happened now, when it's Clu's actions that ruined the system."

"It doesn't matter now, we can't bring them back. All we can do is move forward," Quorra chuckled at that.

"Funny you should say that."

"Why?"

"I should let Flynn explain it. He's better at it than I am," Quorra motioned for Paige to follow as they stepped onto a platform in the middle of the garage. She had seen the large square hole in the ceiling and figured that it was an elevator of sorts, but when it started moving it still caught her off guard. The panels beneath them lit up as the walls surrounded them. It then dawned on her who she was about to meet.

* * *

"Oh my User..." Paige breathed out as she saw Flynn for the first time. He was seated on a cushion in the middle of a large room that looked out toward Tron City, the style bore an uncanny resemblance to the hideout in the Argon outlands. The room itself was the complete opposite, however, where most of the outer walls were made of the stone of the mountain only shaved and smooth. The room was lit primarily from the bright squares on the ground that started from the entrance and went to the opposing wall, as well as a set of two rows going toward the end of the room where the force field separated the warm inside air from the chilling mountain environment. Books were lined in shelves indented in the walls, with drawers under them. The covers and cases of the literature was dark in contrast to the near blinding white of the shelf.

It felt much more natural and exotic than the hideout in Argon. With its mixture of using the natural stone of the Grid combined with unique and intelligently designed furniture. If she took a moment, she could understand that a User would have nothing less.

"No, I don't think he's your specific User," Quorra noted quietly before she stepped over to Flynn. "We have another guest," she whispered quietly but with the silence of the room Paige could still hear her.

"A guest? The one Tron mentioned? Well, she's here sooner than I thought she'd be," the User said with a chipper tone. He turned slowly and peered at her through a sideways glance before Quorra motioned for her to join them.

"Hello, User," Paige said hesitantly, unsure of how to greet him.

"Hello, _Program_ ," he mocked her playfully. "You don't have to be so formal Paige, I'm basically no more powerful than you are," he waved off. The medic felt herself relax as she got a good look at the User now standing before her.

"Should I call you Flynn?"

"Kevin. Flynn. User. Whatever makes you happy, man," he said in delight as he walked over to the table. "Let's talk," Paige took the hint and made her way over to the table and sat across from him, with Quorra seating herself on the couch behind Flynn.

"So did Tron tell you why I wanted to meet you?" he asked gaining a much more serious attitude.

"No, he just told me that I needed to see you,"

"Ah, I see. Why don't we have a seat at the table and we can talk,"

* * *

"Tron spoke very highly of Beck," Quorra commented sweetly, her warmth radiating through her eyes at Paige.

"Yes, he seems like a great Program," Flynn added with his own soft look and smile, "Would you mind telling us more about him?"

"First, I want to know why," Paige countered, her expression hard and determined, which exerted a chuckle out of Flynn.

"Of course, this must be very confusing," Flynn responded before pausing to gather his thoughts, "From what Tron told me, you've been holding on to Beck's disc ever since he was derezzed," she nodded.

"Now, what I have in mind is only a theory. I've never been able to find the same circumstances as you're in. You have been able to hold onto his disc for far longer than is normal. Yes, discs are able to be stable without their Programs while Programs need their Identity Disc to function properly. It has to deal with memory and coding I won't get into. But that said, a disc will lose its shorter term information, and other experienced memories. What that means is that Beck's memories, the events and things he's learned over his life would have been lost. Tron also mentioned that at one point Beck had lost his disc and went through short term amnesia, something that would have damaged his disc's ability to retain memories.

"He also said that you had been going through Beck's memories, apparently up to the point about one year ago, sorry a xilacycle ago? When you two first met?"

"Yes, I still go through his memories. None of them seem to be missing or damaged," Paige responded softly.

"Would you mind if I looked at his disc myself?" The User asked softly holding his hand out, the beads hanging from his wrist jingling with the movement. Paige gave no vocal response as she handed him Beck's disc from her back.

Quickly, with practiced precision, Flynn had opened a series of panels and options before coming to the spiraling vortex of raw code. Code Paige had seen a handful of times as it was far too high of level that she was programmed for as a medic. Kevin quickly scrolled through the long spiraling branches of code until the white pins and stems of information had turned yellow and some parts a flashing red.

"Ahh, here it is," he noted as he continued to inspect the area, "I see there are some mends to the code, that's your doing right?" he asked looking at Paige.

"I… I had tried to save him after I…"

"It's alright Paige, we know, you don't have to say what happened," Quorra offered gently, reaching over and squeezing one of the medic's hand in her lap.

"Thankfully, or I guess it would depend on how you look at the situation, but you trying to save him wasn't the reason his disc was able to retain the memories,"

"And how are we looking at the situation?" Paige insisted.

"Thankfully. This just tells me that the reason the disc hasn't dumped any information is because of you, Paige. One thing I had started to wonder before the ISO's had come and taken my attention was the connection of Programs to other Programs. Humans are very emotional creatures, we crave companionship and the love of another. I was curious how much of that was transferred to the Programs we created and if the feelings of a User could be transferred to the Program. I think that thought process started because of Tron and Yori back in the old system, but now I can finally answer that question,"

"Love? Are you telling me that my feelings for him are what kept the disc stable?" Paige asked incredulously.

"Partly, yes. The other part is that you two are a compatible match. Using Users as a analogy, humans have blood that flows through them, much like you have energy flowing through you. The difference, blood has different types and formations that makes it so that if someone needs to have a blood transfusion, they need to have the same or at least a compatible blood type given to them, otherwise it would kill them. You and Beck must have very similar coding structures to have had the disc stay in such a stable condition. It's almost as if you two are mirror copies of one another, a yin and a yang if you will,"

"What?"

"Chinese symbolism and philosophy. Yin, the black side of one half. Characterized as passive, dark, cold, female, and earth. Yang is active, bright, warm, male, and heaven. One cannot exist without the other. Most of the time, Flynn refers to the concept as good and evil, light and dark, or right and wrong. He also likes to remind me that the philosophy is old and that the definition I just spoke to you is not of the modern thoughts," Quorra informed.

"Yes, Yin and Yang no longer have sex associated with them," he quickly noted, "At one point, I wondered if that existed in humanity, if it did, I imagined I'd find it down here. I started by checking Programs with the same secondary circuit colors, but quickly found that they were not the same, but randomly coded. I found the same in colors that were opposite of one another," he chuckled and looked out to the Outlands from the terrace, "I believe it now to be personality. I could never find the code to prove it, but I noticed how certain colors acted and started keeping track of them in my head, even wrote it down at some point, but that data sheet is long lost,"

"So our personalities are what define if our coding structures are similar? That's what you're saying?" Paige asked, clearly lost in the whole topic.

"No... no, I just went off on a tangent about secondary circuits, sorry. How you are coded structurally is still a mystery to me. I can see it and open it, tinker, and manipulate the wires and stems if your data, but in the end, I don't know the science of it. Would you allow me to inspect your disc as well?" Flynn asked as he set down Beck's disc onto the table. This time, Paige didn't hesitate when she handed him her disc and watched in awe as he found the same coding sequence that he had in Beck's. Side by side, the two looked similar.

"It's so similar to human DNA..." Flynn muttered as he analyzed the two vortexes, his eyes narrowed in deep concentration and interest.

"Paige, when you first met Beck, how did you feel about him?" Quorra asked, deciding to fill the time.

"We, ah, well the first time I actually met him we were fighting. But the first time without the masks, I thought he was..." Paige hesitated as she realized how embarrassing it was going to be to admit her feelings, "...cute. And when I talked to him he seemed fun in a boyish way, hardworking yet carefree at the same time. I liked that," she reminisced with her heart in her voice.

"That's sounds very sweet. I've read a few studies in research publication that talk about how someone's initial feelings or impression are what stay with them, and if the initial response is positive, then the relationship has a higher probability of being long lasting and healthy," the ISO informed her with gilded pride and happiness.

"Well... I wouldn't really call our relationship _healthy_ ," she reflected bashfully.

"Not all relationships start with smoke and mirrors like yours. Under normal circumstances, I'm positive you two would have been happy to be with each other. You are happy right? You held onto his disc because of how much you cared for him," Quorra supplied.

"I-"

"Found it," Flynn spoke suddenly, not loud by any means, but the raw conviction in his voice gathered the other occupants attention immediately.

"Found what?" Paige asked.

"The reason Beck's disc hasn't been dumping information," Flynn presented the two discs, both aligned to the same sequence of coding. Beck's flashed yellow and red, but a chunk of coding stood against the flaring lights with the calm white of undamaged code, as Paige's was a healthy white.

"He's been living with your code. This section right here," Flynn pointed to the area of Beck's undamaged code, "That's the reason the disc isn't failing, it's just what I thought it was man! It's so amazing!" He exclaimed with a brilliant smile, "It was hard to find, your two codes are more similar that I originally imagined! This is just too cool!" he breathed out one last time before leaning back into his chair and looking up at the ceiling with an uncontrolled smile plastered to his face.

"What does this mean?"

"It means we have a beautiful opportunity for you and Beck, Paige," Quorra replied serenely.

"It means, man, that we can bring him back!"

* * *

"Could you say that again?" Paige couldn't tell if she was in a sleep cycle or if she was so exhausted that she didn't hear correctly.

"I can bring him back," the robed man reiterated, "Not just remake a new Program using his disc's coding blueprints, but give him a new body with all the same memories, thoughts, and consciousness. It will be the _same_ Program,"

Paige felt her body receive a variety of overwhelming emotions, all struggling to take control and influencing her, a maelstrom. Elation first filled her, that fact that Beck would come back, that he could after her mistake, to be given a second chance. Her heart started to feel the adrenaline pumping through the energy, and all of her senses began to sing in anticipation.

Unfortunately, the joy was swallowed up by fear, if he did come back would he accept her? Killing someone was the greatest mistake anyone could make, was it possible for his forgiveness? In response to her thoughts, her stomach's butterflies and the tingling of heightened her senses turned against her to a sickening nausea that promised to expel her inner contents. The constricting second skin of her suit that felt as if it was trying to choke every pore of her body.

"Paige?" Quorra stood next to the dazed medic. She hadn't realized that she had stood up and was facing the table with her arms propping her from falling over. Everything was spinning, the world seemed to be moving too fast for her to comprehend, and her name sounded foreign to her.

The softer footsteps of a robed man coming next to were heard by her ears, but not registered in her brain. Nor did the snapping of her discs to her dock help her. Only when a new voice came to her did she snap out of her emotional state.

"What's wrong Paige?" his soothing voice called. It sounded as if he was in the room with them just at the other end, calling from a distance.

"I'm scared," she muttered. She wasn't sure if she was truly speaking aloud or in her mind. The small hand rubbing her hand never ceased and no other sounds or actions tried to interact with her.

"Of me? You're scared of what I'll think of you?" again his voice sounded far away, but real none the less.

"Y-yes…"

 _Am I scared of him…?_ She mused to herself, not trying to commune with the ghost that was inside her. Evidently, he heard her anyway.

"You're not scared of me Paige. You're scared of yourself," His words weren't false, but they didn't help that nasty pit in her stomach that grew with the statement.

"I…"

"Take the disc mod off, Paige. It's influencing you. It's not just anger it uses, it's far more subtle than you know,"

"How do you know?"

"I'm connected to you. I'm inside in you. I've been watching what it's been doing to you without realizing it until now,"

Paige took a moment to consider his words. If he was right, which he usually was and she was stubbornly against him, then she had to let go of her pride and remove the corruption. She calmed her mind with a deep breath.

"Flynn, my disc, there's a modification on it. I need it removed," she knew she had reached the User as her disc was quickly removed and replaced without a nano. Initially, nothing changed, her world still felt like it was breaking down, her mind felt as if it was tearing itself apart, and her body wanted to purge her stomach of its holding. But soon after the mods removal, she felt the tension leaving her, like breaking a fever. The sweat was beginning to feel cold on her body instead of hot, and her stomach finally relaxed. A sigh escaped her as she slumped back into the chair with Quorra's help.

"This is… from the old system…" Flynn sat with a horrid expression on his face, "Where did you get this?"

"…Shaw… A scientist named Shaw. Tesler had secretly been communicating with him ab… about another weapon that would make him stronger," Paige answered weakly. Flynn's expression didn't change.

"This… this coding is from…"

"What is it Flynn?" Quorra encouraged as she continued to sooth Paige with soft massaging hands.

"Sark… Master Control…" the User mutter in disbelief. The words had stopped the ISO's movements, inciting Paige to look up in confusion.

 _Who?_

"Back in the old system, the first time I came here, there was a Program much like Clu. A dictator. A power hungry Program… He… It controlled everything in the Grid, and it was growing. It was going to come to the User world and take control there,"

"But Tron, with Flynn's help, destroyed the MCP," Quorra murmured.

"Then who's Sark?"

"Sark was the MCP's second in command, much like how Dyson is to Clu. When Tron had reached the MCP, it had transferred most of its functions and power to Sark in order to save him," Quorra explained.

"It was the Master Control's compassion that failed him," Flynn interjected, "If he hadn't transferred his power to Sark, I probably wouldn't have survived my jump into his I/O connection and Tron wouldn't have been able to enter past his barriers.

"After that, I went back to my world. Tron told me that he and Yori had escaped before the tower exploded. I thought that they were dead. If any part of them still exist then… we're in a lot of trouble man," Flynn explained in a defeated tone that didn't reassure Paige in the slightest.

"How is it even possible?" the ISO asked in bewilderment.

"I don't know… there isn't a connection to the old system, not one I made. Bradley helped me update Tron so he could function in the new system, but that wasn't a direct transfer, it wouldn't have made any connection to the original Grid,"

At this point, Paige was beginning to lose any comprehension of the situation, and her body was being to wan drastically.

"I need to rest…" she said, struggling to stand.

"I'll help you to a bedroom," Quorra quickly snapped from her reverie and ushered the exhausted medic to one of the far off rooms leaving Flynn to himself.

He studied the circular device before deciding to inspect its element. The code wasn't anything out of the ordinary, no single line spoke of destruction or control over the Grid. Sadly, he wasn't in an old campy superhero movie where there was a flashing button that stopped the life threatening missile from launching and destroying the evil scientist's lair. If only his life could be that simple.

Searching the code, he did find it's power and functional advantages, not without its consequences. Each line string or import array that would fuse the bearer with energy was connected to other groupings of code. This code was the raw source of the modification, the part taken from Sark and the Master Control Program. Personality coding and reasoning was far too complicated for Flynn to understand. He wasn't a psychologist. His understanding of why and how someone or something acted was rudimentary at best.

Kids wanted to have fun because they were energetic and… well kids. Alan and Lora loved each other because they could depend on the other, had similar interests, ideals, and intelligence. They matched and complimented each other in the right ways. Alan was hard working because he took pride and interest in working with coding and understanding the programs that worked, Lora was a scientist who used those programs to further her research, pioneering into new areas of science yet to be fully understood or even believed. Dillinger… wanted to rise to the top and he had the smarts to obtain it, but not from his own creation, but stealing the ideas of far brighter intellectuals such as Flynn, Alan, and Gibbs.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Kevin knew that it all went back to human's route coding, or DNA. Primal functions and instructions to help survive. Affected and shaped over human's evolution and the stark contrast of mankind being sentient opposed to the wild species and mammals. It was far too complicated for him, for now. It was one of the reasons he loved coding. Zeroes and ones were simple. It was all laid out. Sentences of commands and functions that couldn't be interpreted a million different ways.

'When X reaches Y in quantity, transfer X's data to Z'

On a screen in the real world, it was that simple. A mathematical equation.

In the Grid, with Programs that had to transfer the data packages, that's where it became complicated again.

Flynn sighed out in aggravation. He was getting tired of running this exhausting cycle of thoughts. Being patient and understanding others was one thing, but learning how someone thought and why they did it was impossible. Hell, sometimes he didn't even understand himself.

He shut down the open panels of coding to the disc mod and stood to the middle of the room. He'd need to meditate, this was messing with his Zen, man.

* * *

Paige awoke to find herself in an incredibly soft bed, warm and satisfied. Her head unconsciously nuzzled deeper into the puffy pillow and allowed a contented sigh to escape her chest.

"Comfortable?" Beck's voice chuckled softly in her head. Her frown was his response.

 _Yes I am Mr. Ghost._ Her ghost laughed.

"Good, but I think it's time for you to wake up. Flynn and Quorra are about to come in,"

 _How do you know?_

"Trade secret," he teased.

Sure enough, there was a soft rafting on the door soon after.

 _Why are you always right?_ Her mechanic's laugh faded as the door opened and two people stepped in.

"Morning, Program," Flynn greeted.

"How are you feeling?" Quorra asked as she sat on the single chair in the room.

"Better. Refreshed,"

"Good, that disc mod must have been draining," Flynn said.

"About that-"

"We can talk about it later. Why don't we talk a little more about Beck?" Quorra directed softly. Paige nodded.

"This is all theory, so you know. Very possible, but I've never had the opportunity to do this before," Flynn explained.

"What is the procedure?" Paige asked professionally. She admired the User's attempt to cushion the gravity of the situation but she preferred it be factual and straight forward. From the look on his face, he got the message.

"It won't be quick. I'll be entering your code as a User. You'll be connected to the Grid at the bottom of this mountain, it'll let me tell the system to make a new body but without giving it a disc. Sounds simple, but it's tedious work. You'll be unconscious for all of it so you won't feel anything,"

"What's stopping the system from seeing the code, realizing it's mine and refusing to make a body? Won't it know he's derezzed?" Paige asked.

"I'll be binding you two together. There are Programs that share coding, usually partner Programs. I won't bore you with why, but it has to do with efficiency and saving digital space. Why make two when you can make them for the price of one? Anyway, my plan is to make you and Beck partner Programs, as minimal as the system will let me, that way you two don't just become a single mind. Does that make sense?"

"Yes… actually," she answered slowly, grasping the concept quite easily.

"Good. Basically, I'm tricking the system into giving him a body then combining the two of you," he paused as he thought about his next words, "You should know that once you two are partnered, if one of you are derezzed, the other will also die,"

"I'm sure we'll manage," Beck's voice called from next to her.

"We can handle it. We'll be more than capable once we're together,"

"Good," Flynn smirked as he proceeded to the door, "Why don't you get ready and we'll get this show on the road,"

* * *

"You didn't want to tell them that you could see me?" Beck asked as the three… and a half… of them went to the elevator to the lower garage.

 _I can't see you, can I?_ Paige shot back cheekily. Her mechanic scoffed and chuckled.

"Point," he acquiesced, "Does this mean I won't be in your head anymore?"

 _Hopefully, I would like to have private thoughts again._ She imagined herself glaring at a charming Beck who grinned at her words.

"Says the Program who's been roaming through my disc," Paige couldn't stop herself as she audibly snorted, covering it up as a cough.

 _Point._

"But that's a shame. I will miss some of those thoughts. But I am getting antsy in here. Really miss having legs, arms, oh and a body," he joked. Images and memories of Beck holding her as they slept or enjoyed time together flashed through her mind.

 _I miss that too. I need more warmth at night._

"You seemed more than content not even a few minutes ago,"

 _Feet were still cold._ She grinned at his deadpanned expression.

"Well don't worry, Princess. Your personal foot warmer will be available shortly," he bowed theatrically to her.

 _Classy._

"Paige?" Quorra inquired at the medics second chuckle.

"Sorry, just imagining something. Helps calm me down," she lied.

"No reason to be nervous, this will work," she wished she had the other woman's confidence.

"How can you be so sure?" Quorra gave a thoughtful expression as they all stood onto the elevator platform.

"Flynn calls it a 'hunch' or 'gut-feeling',"

"Sounds like User instinct,"

"It is instinct," Flynn interjected, the lights of the elevator bouncing off the few bright gray hairs starting to show in his hair, "but you have it as well. It's in every living being," the two looked at him with different expressions.

Paige had confusion and doubt while Quorra was in awe, as if learning something grand from a wise teacher. In a sense, that was true.

They were silent for the rest of the short trip down. Once they stopped moving and the lights through out the garage came on, the group entered into a hall perpendicular to the garage. When she first caught sight of the hall she felt it wasn't made for open space and comfort. No, the corridor was much more of a utility space or back entrance, a place rarely traveled and designed by that fact. Tight and narrow, with matte walls and simple lighting, comfort was not in mind when it was created. At the end on the right sat a doorway to another elevator, this one more common in fashion.

"This will take us to the bottom," Flynn said as they entered. It was wider than the other lift, but the bleak color of the interior walls made it confining and slightly worrisome.

 _A typical service elevator I suppose._

"Won't Clu notice what we're doing? We are accessing the system directly," As Paige turned in the elevator she was shocked to find a fourth person waiting for her. Reflexively, she gasped and jumped back. Flynn and Quorra both stared at her in bewilderment.

"What is it?" the other woman asked looking around the interior of the elevator.

"… It's Beck. I can see him," she muttered, unable to take her gaze away from the spiky haired mechanic.

He looked just as she remembered. The circuit lines, the armor configuration, his tall fit body, his dashing smile, bright eyes filled with vitality that looked directly at her with affection.

"Where is he?" Flynn inquired, his curiosity peaked. She timidly took a step toward the image, her palm reaching out towards his chest.

"Right here," she slowly uttered as her hand came into contact with him.

 _By the Users._ He felt real. The warmth that radiated off him and soaked into his thin Grid suit was under her skin. Somewhere in the back of her mind it was telling her that if she moved or pressed into him he'd disappear, but just resting her hand on him was enough for her. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Don't cry, I'm not back yet," he whispered, his hand taking hers and pushing it back from his chest gently. Still holding it with care and importance to let her know that he wasn't trying to push her away. His charming expression had turned soft and soothing, further a promise that they'd be together again. All she had to do was wait a little longer.

Quorra had enough of a mind to tap the floor level and begin their journey to the heart of the mountain. Kevin Flynn continued to watch in unadulterated interest as the medic interacted with an invisible spirit.

"Mind if I peek at your disc?" he asked, his eagerness getting the better of him. Paige nearly shoved it in his hands, her eyes never moved.

"Afraid I'll disappear if you look away?" he teased, getting closer to her. Another sense for the illusion of the phantom. His smell wafted to her and caused a fireworks of memories to flash through her mind. Times when they were close recycled through her, other times when he was the Renegade and his musk was apparent.

"Maybe," she answered with a flirty undertone, before immediately blushing. She chanced a look away from him to see Flynn too focused on her coding and Quorra unaffected by the odd gesture, as if she hadn't spoken at all.

"Are you so shamed to be seen talking to me?" he acted taken aback, burned. His hand held to her as he leaned against the wall and stared at the ceiling with carelessness.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure it's not healthy to talk to illusions," she snipped. He didn't turn to face her but the grin that formed on his lips told her he had heard her.

"I think you should keep talking, it's helping combine your code," Flynn murmured distractedly.

So he was listening. She could tell her blush had returned a little bit at the realization.

"It's alright Paige. It's nothing to get embarrassed over," Quorra input, not helping the warmth on her cheeks. At this point, the medic wondered how long the ride down was going to take and if she could take much more of the uncomfortable enclosure. Surely these walls were shrinking on her.

"How long are we going to be on this thing?" she asked.

"Well we are going to the bottom of a mountain," Beck noted.

"Shut it, mechanic,"

"Aww, you're so nice to me, medic," he beamed back at her. Ignoring the glare and harsher tone of his medic, figuring to _kill_ her with kindness. It had yet to not work for him.

Quorra chuckled at Paige, no doubt conversing with her friend. Since the Program had come to their sanctuary, she had wondered about what it was like to be connected to someone else. Flynn had talked about having compassion, understanding, and love for others. But he had yet to talk to her about _Love_. She had read about it some of the books he had brought her from his world. From what she gathered… well… love was a very strange concept and it was incredibly difficult to pinpoint.

It appeared unique to each couple, set by their personalities. Some slowly progressed from a life long friendship into relationship, which to Quorra confused her the most. They were blind to the obvious choice, trying to make other partnerships work and always came back to their friend when it came crumbling down. Why would they try to find someone else when they were already with someone far more compatible? What defined a couple was the sexual activities allowed, sometimes. A handful of the stories she had read had characters with sexual partners but they were not in a relationship. It was… confusing to say the least.

Other couples that bewildered her were ones that fought endlessly. Why choose to be with someone who invokes so much frustration and hardship? Her eyes drifted over to Paige as she heatedly continued to talk to the wall. Her tones switching from a low sultry tone to bold and flippant. She definitely fit the trope of an arguing partner.

The ISO let her mind wonder over all the information she had gathered from the novels. More types of relationships, some confusing, others not so much. She hated feeling this way, and always yearned to make progress in understanding the concept of love. Her wheels spun but they gave no traction and nothing was solved. She wondered how many times she said the word confusing to herself when trying to figure out the mysterious power love.

"Quorra?" Flynn asked softly, his hand on her shoulder. So deep in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed they had reached ground level.

"Sorry Flynn, just-"

"Thinking I know. I've caught you like this over a hundred times," he smirked before heading out to the open box that was the heart of the mountain.

Seeing it for the first time, Paige was taken aback by how odd it looked to find the base Grid open but surrounded by walls. Looking down at her feet made it appear as if she was standing on the thinnest glass frame or nothing at all. The walls that made up the groundless room weren't as far apart as she expected, about 25 meters by 25 meters with at least five meters of comfortable head height.

"Welcome to ground zero," Flynn said as he past Paige. He proceeded to initialize and produce a flat surface with a disc port in the middle.

"Here. Lie down and give me Beck's disc," he instructed.

The two traded discs and watched as she lined her body so her disc would fit into the port. From the corner of her vision, Quorra approached, still distracted by whatever she was previously pondering about. Beck's image stood by the other head of the operating table, one of his hands lying on the top of her boot. He was calm, and she wished for all the energy in the Grid that he could give her that. Her heart felt too anxious, the beating sounding up in her ears and starting to drown out other noises. With it, her fear was creeping up on her, a rarity for the usually strong will Program.

"Paige," Quorra questioned, "What does it feel like?" the ISO's eyes were looking at her but she could tell her mind was elsewhere.

 _Hell of a question…_

"The moment before a life threatening and experimental surgery?" the User next to her chuckled.

"I know what she's thinking about," he informed, "She wants to know what Love feels like,"

Paige hesitated before responding, not sure how to answer. "I- I don't know if I can answer that,"

"Of course you can," he stated softly. His eyes never drew away from the coding on Beck's disc and interface generated by the operating table, "Just tell her how you feel when you think of him,"

Her mind quickly reviewed everything she knew about the lovable mechanic. Their dates, the small moments they spent when they had free time. His smile, jokes, light hearted yet serious nature. His determination, the effort he put into what he believed, especially her. Just then, she realized how hard and how much faith he put into her. To make the right decision, to fight for freedom over 'perfection'. And when he died, he continued to support her, even death itself couldn't stop his determination.

"Complete," Paige answered with misty eyes. The wealth of emotion surging through her becoming too much for her to contain.

 _Damn my eyes… and damn you for making me cry!_ Her thoughts spiked, quickly glaring at Beck before looking away to hold her tears in.

"I didn't know how… empty I was until he came into my life," she chuckled and looked at his face again, "By no means do I need him. I can manage on my own without him…" his face fell, "…but… I'd have nothing without him by my side. I'm still learning what Love means myself. But I'm pretty sure I feel it for him," his features relaxed as he walked around Quorra to stand by Paige's head, his hand silently gripping hers reassuringly.

"It's all set. Ready?" Flynn asked as he looked down to her.

"But I…" Quorra started but stopped. Clearly, she hadn't made any headway in her musings, and more questions wouldn't help her.

"Ready," Paige strengthened herself as she shut her eyes. She would see him again. Only it would be real.

In her mind, she was standing in front of him. Back on top of the bridge in Argon, they were no more than a meter apart. The wind softly crossed by both of them, tickling their skin and hair. He stepped closer, his face smiling as he did so. Users, she loved that. He was almost always doing it, and if he was, she could usually do it too.

Suddenly, the feeling of being pulled backwards stopped. When her eyes had regained focus, she was on top of the pier. Her eyes scanned the area, no evidence of her mechanic to be found. He had vanished. And with him, their connection was gone as well. The presence of him tether with her had grown so strong as she possessed his disc.

Panic briefly swept over her before she steeled herself and reached out for the bond. It was like blindly reaching into dark, deep water, her mind's hand trying to find purchase on a tread of any sort. Hoping for a single thread to still exist in the dark, to find that light that kept her grounded.

His light, her hope.

And then she found it. The smallest sensation in the water, like a hair slipping on a hand. She tenderly closed her fingers on the connection and could see it. The soft blue glow illuminating the dark. She opened her eyes and found she could see it. Inside of fist, a small thread traveled through the lands to an unseen location.

"Connection established," the Grid spoke, her voice sounding clear but also thundering across the open air. Her breath slowed as she continued to hold their bond. Cautiously, she opened her hand, watching as the cord snapped from her hand and visibly connected to her chest, before fading from view.

"Connection catalogued," the Grid announced before the ground started to quake. Paige fell to her knees and tried to find stability in the chaos. The ground moved so quickly that it became nothing more than streaks of lines as it basically vibrated. Her head became dizzy soon after, and she felt sick to her stomach. The medic snapped her eyes shut as she desperately wished for the nausea to go way. The darkness slowly consumed the world around her.

* * *

When her stomach did calm down, she thanked it profusely and relished the bliss of just being okay. Minus the dizzy sensation. Slowly, she became aware that she was lying supine, her head's disorientation feeling much heavier than in her dream. Rich brown eyes cracked, before slowly opening at staring up at a dark gray ceiling.

She was back, alive. Under conscious decision, she filled her lungs to their capacity with air, a glorious feeling. She could feel each individual rib moving and expanding to make room for her lungs, her stomach following by example. Her toes and fingers twitched, the hairs on her legs and arms tingled, her joints felt relaxed and clean. A silly grin crossed her face as she continued to enjoy the sensations of her body.

It had only felt like a few minutes since she was put under, but her body told her she had been disconnected with her mind for hours. No wonder if felt so good to feel like she was back in her body. Testing out her head, she turned to her right and saw Quorra looking on curiously, her lips curved up faintly.

"Welcome back. How do you feel?"

"Pretty good," Paige muttered, surprised how weak she was for feeling so… normal. Maybe she wasn't good, just realizing how amazing it was to just feel okay.

"Flynn said I could give you some water or energy, do you want any?"

"Water sounds good," she answered, her stomach silently telling her that energy sounded too heavy. Her head turned as Quorra worked on getting her a glass of water. On her left was a slightly transparent barrier, she could see a large shadow on it, her guess was that it was Flynn sitting and leaning back on it. "Flynn?" she called. His head appeared from the side confirming her assumption.

"Hey man, feeling buzzed?" he asked casually.

"I think so. My first time so I can't really say for sure," she answered in similar fashion before getting serious, "Is he okay?"

"I've been monitoring the two of you for the last hour, no hiccups or signs of mistakes. I think you two will be just fine," Paige slowly tried sitting up, testing herself, "Take it slow, he's still unconscious, probably for a few more hours,"

"Why?" she questioned while Quorra helped sit her up and placed the glass of water in her hands.

"His body and disc just need extra time to sync up properly," she sighed in relief, at least it sounded simple. The water tasted like the best thing to ever grace her mouth as she drank.

"Can I see him?"

"Course," Flynn answered as if she was crazy for even asking. Quorra lined herself with the medic, hip and shoulders together as the two stood. She leaned heavily on the ISO for a moment, her legs shaking unsteadily. Taking her time, she tested herself and felt herself remembering how to walk. The two women walked around the table and as they rounded the barrier, she watched in slowed time as Beck's body came into view. Feet first, then legs, and the rest of him.

Her mind refused to believe what she was seeing. That out of body feeling flooded her and she had to remember that it wasn't a dream and he was there, sleeping on the table as if nothing had been wrong in his life. His face was serene, eyes shut and brow smooth, the spiky hair a mess, looking like he had rolled around in his slumber.

The joy had shined through to her face and only after her cheeks felt tight did she realize how hard she was smiling, she probably looked strange. It was her Beck, it had to be. No Program could look so peaceful after being brought back from the dead.

"I was planning on bringing you two upstairs soon, no need to keep an eye on you down here anymore," Kevin sighed, his exhaustion evident in his slouched shoulders.

"How long did it take?" she asked wistful.

"About 18 pectros,"

"Wow, it only felt like a couple of millis,"

"Ever have surgery before?" she replied in the negative. A silence took over as the three stared at the unconscious Program.

"Well, I'll get things set so we can move him upstairs," Flynn uttered as he rose from his seat and began playing a few digital interfaces. The operating table glowed before it dimmed and transformed into a hospital bed.

"Quorra, would you mind pushing?"

"Sure," the ISO stood behind the bed where Beck's head rested and began to follow Flynn as he strode to the elevator. Paige followed along side, her hand on the railing of the bed as they proceeded to leave the heart of the mountain.

* * *

The world felt heavy. A massive force forcing him to its surface, attempting to crush his body under it's gravitational force. He was stronger, however, and he felt the muscles ripple under his skin, pressing against the bone of his skeletal system. They twitched and flexed as they were used for the first time, tendons and ligaments lining up properly and allowing the energy to flow through them. It felt good.

Once his body had its check, his other senses were tested. No sounds came to him, it was eerily quiet, and for a moment he wondered if he had gone deaf. But when he twitched his hands, he could hear the faint rustling of thin fabric sheets. There was a clean, almost sterile scent in the air, mixed with something familiar of his past, but his head and memories were fuzzy, so he focused on how soothing and sweet the fragrance was. His mouth was dry but the lack of taste, rather than the numbness of it told him that he could enjoy meals. Last, he cracked his eyelids open and found the room he was in not as bright as he imagined it to be.

The walls were dark, appearing to be uncoded by purposefully cut stone of the Grid, a sight Beck had never seen before. The floor was formatted, along with the wall that the door stood in, basic grooves and a doorknob. Nothing special, but it still spoke of a symbolic peace only found in simplicity. The rest could be said about the rest of the room. A desk and chair, also white and see through hard plastic, or possibly glass. Pictures of colorful meadows and a bright blueish green ocean hung on the wall on each side of the door.

Looking down, he found he was in a medical bed of sorts. Light blue sheets covered him and most of the railing, comforter, and bulk of the frame was a light gray. His mind loosely acknowledged the bed as his eyes were drawn to someone far more important than the description of his room.

A woman with long cascading brown hair was resting on her arms on the side of his bed. Her face was turned in his direction, and from his point of view her body looked very uncomfortable. Her back was arched in a odd looking bend and her legs had somehow found purchase under the bed so that she wouldn't fall off her stool if she fell asleep.

The mechanic slid his hand from under the sheets, a few centimeters from where she was asleep, and gently tucked the hair that was blocking her face aside. The rest of her face, brought his mind into focus and the memories came rushing back.

The statue at the park. Bodhi. The Renegade. Tron. Tesler. The Occupation. Argon. Abel. Mara. Zed. Cutler. The Super Recognizer… Paige… _Death._

He closed his eyes as the hardships returned to him. Instead of letting them continue to circle inward of themselves, he broke the vicious cycles of memories by looking at the sleeping face of the Commander. Though, on second inspection, he realized she wasn't in the standard Occupation orange, but the medic green. His lips tugged upward into a smile and he found himself admiring the color. It suited her well.

As he continued to admire the woman next to him, he wondered what had transpired in his absence. He knew what had happened. He had died. While he had no clear memory of the event, only the sight of Paige attempting to save his code with his disc in hand, he knew he had been derezzed. Questions quickly piled up.

Sensing his disturbed aura, the rich chocolate eyes previously closed, opened slowly before realization dawned and Paige sat up.

"Beck!" she exclaimed. Her face filled with shock, joy, and…

She's crying? He thought as he saw the tears slowly roll down her cheeks. Paige was hardly one to shy away from emotion, but he had figured her too strong and proud to let someone else see her cry. Before he could get a word out, her body crashed into his in a hard embrace. Her arms slid underneath the back of his ribs and squeezed uncomfortably tight as her head nestled into his upper chest.

"Hey, it's alright," he soothed, not sure what else to say in the situation. His hands wrapped around her frame, one stroking her hair, the other making long strides on her back.

She stayed like that for quite sometime, and he felt his questions screaming at him. Eventually, she did pull away and sat on the side of his bed, her hand wiping away the tears on her face as she regained composure. When it stopped moving and sat at her side, he clasped it in her own. Though most of her face was covered by her hair, he could see her smile.

"Sorry, it's just…" she started but stopped again as her voice wavered.

"Don't apologize. It's alright… but I'm a little confused. Where are we?" he inquired softly.

"We're at Flynn's hideout,"

"Flynn? You mean the User?" Beck asked incredulously. Paige nodded and turned slightly more toward him, one of her eyes now visible to him.

"Yeah, it's… a long story, and I know you have questions. So, whatever you want to start with,"

"I take it you figured out who I am?" he guessed, holding his breath in for the rage.

"Yeah. I should have known," she smirked with a glint in the one eye he could see.

"Ouch!" he whipped his hand away from hers as he felt her pinch it violently.

"You should be happy I'm not doing worse," she muttered darkly, the small grin letting him know he wasn't in serious trouble, yet. Slowly, he placed his hand back with hers. Her fingers rubbing the bruise she had caused.

"I'm sorry about not telling you…" Beck's eyes averted from hers as his guilt crashed over him, "I just… I was going to, but could you-"

"I know, Beck," she interrupted him gently, "I've had time to think about it and I know you didn't have much choice. But next time, tell me before we…" she trailed off, her head turning away again as she sighed.

"Right, sorry. Uhh… have you met him?" he moved on, hoping that moving to a different subject would help her. She turned back.

"Tron? Yes. Seeing that we're at Flynn's, it's safe to assume. I know _everything_ , Beck," she stated.

"Just being cautious. You are dangerous to my health," he joked, regretting it the moment he said it. Paige gave him a blank expression before breaking into a smile.

"You're damn right, Mechanic," she glared again. He had become accustomed to that expression. A menacing glare, with dark intention in her eyes, along with a playful grin, sometimes lips pursed tightly. It seemed very her. Deadly, powerful, but fun and beautiful. Similar to a dancing fire. Powerful, but in control. Deadly, but with beautiful precision. Serious, but fun if played with correctly.

"I missed that look," he answered with a smile, "Is Tron here? How is he?"

"He's in Argon leading the Defiance,"

"Defiance?"

"It's what they're calling themselves now. No longer an Uprising," the medic answered.

"I see…"

 _Probably after I got derezzed…_ he mused, "What about everyone else? Mara, Zed?"

"They're doing okay. As well as they can be. It's been ten hilocyles since you died. War has broken out in Argon. Clu's forces have locked down the city. They've been doing what they can, attacking military installations here and there, but nothing of value. So far, they only managed to destroyed the Super Recognizer and damage a few capital ships and frigates,"

"They destroyed the Super Recognizer? I thought I did that when saving Tron,"

"The Occupation repaired it, that's when I ran into Tron again after I found the disc mod,"

" _Shaw's disc mod?!_ Paige, you have to-"

"I know. It's gone. Don't you remember?" she asked him.

"Remember? Remember what?"

"You don't remember talking to me? I started holding onto your disc, and I could hear you. You were with me while I was kinda… losing my mind… but you kept me from losing myself completely,"

"I…" he tried to recall. Fuzzy memories came back to him, like a long forgotten dream being brought back. Sounds, scenes, and sentences were jumbled together and disorganized, no clear path.

"I- It feels like a dream. I feel something, but nothing makes sense,"

"Maybe I can explain it if you tell me," she encouraged. He nodded and concentrated.

"I'm fighting… Programs… endless amounts of them,"

"I… uhh… That might have been when I was rampaging through the city against the Occupation," Paige admitted solemnly.

"No, that's not it. These Programs look different. They're armor is white and bulky, and their circuits are red, not orange," he explained, his eyes shut tightly, "I keep derezzing them but instead of breaking into voxels, they're turning into these bright rings and floating up,"

"That sounds like the old system," a new voice called out. The two looked up to see a robed man standing in the doorway. "Sorry I knocked, but I guess you guys were busy. Mind if I come in?" the two nodded and he proceeded to occupy the chair at the desk.

Beck could tell by looks alone of the man's wealth of knowledge and wisdom. The power all held in check in the look of his soft eyes, similar to Abel.

"Your dream sounds like the old system, and you're fighting the MCP's army, not Clu's,"

"No, they weren't an army, it was just one face. They were the same person!" Beck started slowly but ended in exclamation, realization coming to him.

"That makes sense. It would explain why the disc mod wasn't consuming Paige as it did with you," the older man rubbed his chin in thought, "You must have been fighting off the Master Control's influence,"

"What's the Master Control?" Beck asked.

"The MCP, or Master Control Program, was the Program used to keep the old Grid in order and working condition. Over time, it had grown in power and was planning on taking over my world. Before Tron and I stopped him,"

"Sounds like Clu," the mechanic noted dryly.

"I thought the same," the User agreed.

"So, what's the MCP have to do with the disc mod? How is a Program from the old system able to influence us?"

"The modification is formed from the MCP's original power. Sark, the MCP's second in command was given its power to stop Tron but at the end, he exploded at the tower," Flynn explained, not much of it making sense to Beck, "We can talk about it later, for now, how are you feeling?"

"Uhh... good!" Beck responded a little shocked.

"That's good. It appears you two are going to be okay, but just to make sure, can I look at both of your discs?" Beck looked to Paige who nodded and the two handed them over. Flynn turned and set them down on the desk, immediately pulling up the raw code and inspecting it closely.

"How am I alive?" Beck questioned, looking to his partner for the answer, who explained in the way she understood it. A few micros later and the mechanic's eyes were wide as he looked disbelieving at the User to Paige.

"Flynn preformed an operation," Paige answered, "Our _unique_ situation allowed him to give you another body while keeping all your memories," Beck took a moment to digest the information.

"What makes our situation _unique_?" He watched as his medic blushed and a nervous smile crept onto her face. It made her look adorable.

"What?" he laughed softly.

"Because I held onto your disc and our coding was so similar, it allowed for your disc to use my life coding to retain your consciousness. That's half of it. The other part of it is from our personal connection with each other," she explained carefully.

"You mean if we weren't _together_ that I wouldn't be alive?" Beck phrased awkwardly.

"I think there's more to it than that, but yes," she drawled slightly.

"The fact that you two had such a strong bond made the most impact," Flynn added while turning around and handing their discs back.

"Everything looks in order. I'd say you two are good to go after some rest," he continued.

"Thank you, Flynn," Beck gave his gratitude, reaching a hand out and shaking the older man's.

"Thank you Beck, and you Paige. You two have shown me that Programs can be so much more than their basic code and function... You two are more human than some I've met in my world," He paused for a moment.

"I hope, when I get out of here, _if_ I get out of here, I can meet your Users. Maybe they'll share the same fate as their Programs," he finished with a grin.

"That one of them kills the other?" Beck joked, earning him another pinch and knowing glare from his partner.

"Wouldn't that be something?" Flynn laughed.

"Why don't I let you two rest? Quotes and I will be out in the living room when you're ready," he said, giving them one last smile before departing.

* * *

It was nice to feel her against his body. The reassurance of having her pressure, her warmth. The beating of her hearth though their bodies, bouncing off each others skin. Like the beat of a song, always flowing keeping the music steady and stable as other melodies and instruments drop away or change. She was a constant. A constant he hoped would never change.

When the two calmed down and lead back, that beating rhythm slowing to a conformable background of the soft song of simply being together. Beck's hand moved along her form. His left gliding across her shoulder, down her arm, her hip, and returning to her shoulder to complete the circuit. Her other hand kept to her hair, stroking it with his fingers reaching to her scalp and massaging it gently. A few times she sighed, her voice going so low it sounded like a purr. Her fingers contracted on his chest, uncurling to press her palm into him, kneading him.

His right hand eventually started to venture further down the length of her hair. It was nearly twice as long as he remembered, another reminder of how long it had been.

"What made you grow out your hair?"

"I wanted a change. I needed to rethink myself after I realized how wrong I was about Clu," she answered strangely, her voice of mix of hope and sorrow.

"Are you going to keep it?"

"Probably. It does get in the way when fighting though,"

"Ponytail could fix that right? Isn't that why you had the bun?"

"Partially. That was also me changing, a time I can learn on,"

"Wait, didn't your hair get in the way back then too? It covered your eye!" Paige let out a curt laugh at his words.

"It did, but I wanted to look menacing. So stubbornly, I learned how to deal with the disadvantage of a blind spot,"

Her body pillow laughed and teased her. The two went on like that for hours, talking about nothing to anything. Smiling at all the topics they picked. He had returned, and she had let go of her burden.

Her hatred and anger. Every emotion she had used to strengthen herself in the past. Now, her joy and determination to protect what she held most dear fueled her. She had thought she lost what she wanted back in Gallium, but now she knew what it meant to lose everything. She would never let it happen again. She couldn't, it would kill her.

Learning from him how powerful the strength of friendship and love could empower someone to fight to their truest potential. He had taught her so many things, changed her perspective on life, saved her from herself, and gave her a new purpose. And she knew, she had saved him too. From his own demons that he kept in his head, telling him he wasn't good enough. That he was failing when all he had done was succeed after countless losses against an impossible foe. They had saved each other.

Yin and Yang calmly dancing in circle of each other.

* * *

Sleep had come and past. The two having fallen asleep very quickly after their chat. For the first time in a while having dreams that felt good without an undertone of something was missing.

"So…" Beck started, wanting to get some clarity on a subject, "You said I was with you the entire time you had my disc?" Paige looked at him over her shoulder from the other side of the room where she was stretching.

"Yes. I could hear your voice, and sometimes I could see you in my dreams. The dreams were far more vivid than any others I've had in my life, and without them… I don't know if I could have gone on. I was… in such a dark place, Beck. I don't think you know how bad I became after I killed you," she relented passionately.

"I can feel it. Like a dream you can't remember, but you know the general outline of what happened and how you felt. Tell me some of the times I talked to you, I want to see if it comes to mind," Beck asked as he stepped closer.

And so she recounted some of the horrific events that had occurred to her over the past months of time. Beck watching in keen interest and she exposed herself further than she ever had, the story of her darkest moments and weakest points. If his presence hadn't already been there and he hadn't already experienced it in some way already, she figured it'd be near impossible to tell him.

"You had saved me. Because you were there I didn't lose myself completely. All I wanted was to destroy everything. Clu, Tesler, Tron. Just- just… _rip_ their hearts out," his eyebrow raised at her sudden passion, "You were slowly opening my eyes to Tesler and Clu's _perfection_ , I was so blind and ignorant to it. But when I saw you as the Renegade, it all kind of clicked into place. I felt so alone, betrayed by everything. Even you. But you came back, and calmed me down. Then I realized what you were doing," she held his head gently and looked at his as her thumb softly caressed his knuckles. Beck held his tongue, wanting to apologize again but figured it was overkill at this point.

"I… I should probably tell you something else…" Paige started, her face red again.

"What?"

"I… went through your memories," she admitted meekly. Instead of the anger, she found him more embarrassed, his eyes wide and frame tense with worry. She was going to have fun with this.

"What did you see?" he asked, his voice sounding dry and nervous.

"I saw a lot. But there was this _one memory_ that stood out," she grinned at her prey, his look of defeat bringing a urge to kiss him from her heart. He was incredibly adorable at times.

 _Crap_ … he thought as he could tell exactly what she was talking about.

"The Renegade was _reviewing_ all his run-ins with a certain Commander," she teased and he could feel the skin on his face literally burning with embarrassment. He groaned and looked away, not able to stand looking in her direction, only to have his face turned back with soft hands and his lips captured by a warmer pair.

"I thought it was cute," she whispered lovingly, her affection shown through her rich brown eyes.

"Still embarrassing," he noted quietly.

"You seem more shy than I remember, Mechanic," she teased, giving him another peck on the lips before resting her head on his chest and holding him. His arms wrapped around her, the two simply held each other once more.

"Maybe it's because one of the last memories I have before waking up is my girlfriend derezzing me,"

"Worried I'll do it again?" she muttered.

"Little,"

"Don't worry. I may beat you up… but I can't lose you. Not again,"

* * *

When the two entered the main room they saw Flynn meditating on a white cushion, small particles gliding upward toward the ceiling. Quorra was on a couch, reading an age worn book, its presence along with the small library that lined the wall odd in the Grid.

Flynn, in all his User glory, must have sense their stares, because he turned to them with a warm smile.

"Greetings. Did you two sleep well?" he asked, bringing Quorra's attention to them.

"Very," the two responded in sync, looking at each other in surprise before chuckling.

"Do you two plan on returning to Argon?" Quorra asked as she walked over.

"We hoped we could stay a couple cycles before heading back," Beck answered.

Flynn nodded, "Sure, we wouldn't mind the company,"

Being lead by Flynn, everyone sat at the dinner table once more.

"So, Beck," the User started, "I've been wanting to meet you ever since Tron gave me a visit,"

"Me? Why?"

"Because Tron's never talked about a Program the way he has with you," Flynn explained, his fingers coming together and his hands coming to rest a few inches before his face. Beck's expression clearly said he had not expected that.

"Don't looks so surprised, I'm quite impressed with you myself,"

"But I'm just a mechanic!" he blurted.

"Nah, man. You… you're something else, whoever wrote you, and you Paige, they're incredibly intelligent. You two are on part with Tron," Flynn almost laughed at the couple's expressions.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Paige asked skeptically, Quorra snorted and covered her face with a sheepish look in her eyes.

"Perfectly fine!" he announced jovially, "Don't you see? Beck, had you not been strong enough, Tron's missions, being his replacement? Oh come on, he wouldn't let just anyone run around with his suit," he paused and enjoyed Beck's slack jaw, attempting to refute the logical claims, "And Paige, I don't think anyone lesser could match so perfectly with Beck. But think about what you've gone through. Managing two discs, fighting Clu's army by yourself, and yet, you didn't lose yourself. Even with the disc mod. Not only does it show control, but strength of character,"

"But it was Beck who helped me! He was there, it was just me!" she refused. Flynn simply shook his head.

"Tron didn't stop the MCP alone. Even with the power transferred to Sark, if I hadn't helped him, he would have died. The two of you stood against a force so powerful, the greatest Program of that time and a User were the only ones able to stop him,"

The two stared on in shock. What could they say? Arguably, the most famous figure and person in the Grid had told them they were on par with him and the greatest Program every constructed. It was a lot to swallow.

"What are you trying to say? That we're basically Users?" Paige asked.

"Almost. I get why you call me and any programmer a User. But you could be a User if you came to my world," Flynn explained.

"But we weren't created there, how could we be?" Beck countered.

"You see… it actually doesn't work like that. This is the whole reason why I'm not fighting Clu, he already knows,"

"Know what?"

"That if I can be in. He, and all of his army, can be out there," Their breaths stilled as the realization came, "Lucky for us, even if he did have my disc, he couldn't leave. The Portal closes after a certain amount of time, and like a safe, it can only be opened from the outside,"

"So, that's why you haven't left then…" Beck muttered in understanding.

"Exactly. But still, it's good Clu doesn't have my disc. The MCP had access to my world without one. I wouldn't put it past Clu to have found a similar way to do so,"

"You think he'd be able to activate the portal that way?" Paige suggested.

"Possibly, but I can't imagine how. And with this disc mod, I'm even more worried he doesn't already have some connection with the old system. It might be outdated but it still runs and I could never close that up completely. Programs were much more reliant on User updates and commands to function," the User reminisced.

"About the mod," Paige started, inclining Flynn to explain more about it.

"Yes," he pulled it from his robe, "It's exactly as I thought. The source coding comes from the MCP. I can't say of where it came from, but it's definitely part of Sark's disc," he flipped it in his hands, everyone stared at it for a moment, brain storming on the mysterious object.

"No idea of where it came from?" Beck pressed.

"Not that I can tell. It doesn't hold much. Just the power from the MCP and the necessary coding to keep it intact. I plan to look into it more but there's only so much I can discern from it,"

"Is there anyway you could remove the personality? Or whatever causes the influence on your mind?" the mechanic hoped.

"I'm not sure. The power is dependent on the code to activate and function properly. I don't know how Dillinger coded the MCP either or how mutated the Program became from his original form. That's what I planned to learn more about today. Before I got trapped in here, I imported a new System Monitor. With some help from Tron's User, I managed to find a way for the System Monitor to provide himself with extra energy and the ability to conjure a personal arsenal. He's derezzed now, but I know how to replicate his abilities. Maybe I can use that to work this mod,"

Beck and Paige nodded in understanding.

"What did you two want to do today?" Quorra asked. The couple gave each other a quick glance at each other before shrugging.

"Not sure. We just wanted to take a couple cycles to rest before jumping back into it,"

"Tron told us you were one hell of fighter, care to show me?" the ISO asked a small challenge. Paige looked over at Beck, his eyes filled with a determined gleam of motivated fire. He was eager, and she felt the same flames lapping at her mind.

"I'd be glad to,"

* * *

"It's a little cramped for a duel," Paige commented as the three Programs walked into the heart of the mountain.

"Will that be a problem? We can always go to the surface," Quorra offered in her usual manner.

"No, that's okay I'm…" the medic looked at her left hand. It was odd not having Beck's disc with her anymore, "It'll be okay," she stated firmly.

"Why don't you two spar? I'll sit and watch,"

The Commander and Renegade looked at each other before competitive grins broke out on their faces.

"You're on, Medic,"

"Bring it, Mechanic,"

The two stood apart from each other, battle armor engaged as to not seriously injure each other. The hum of their discs broke the silence and they readied themselves.

Paige was first to charge, her disc making a slash at his chest area, which Beck dodged easily. Her mind flashed back to the night when she had killed him. She squashed the fear before it could take refuge in her mind. Beck reacted with a backflip, his feet extended outward to strike her face, but she moved to the side to sweep his feet when he landed. He rolled the moment his back hit the ground and launched himself to his feet.

Their discs sparked as she assaulted his defenses with strong deliberate slams and slashes. His feet slid on the floor as his body absorbed the momentum of her strikes. After a few dozen hits, Paige held her disc pressed on his and grew close. Their faces centimeters apart, intense with alert concentration.

"That all you got, Renegade," she taunted playfully through gritted teeth.

"Just getting warmed up," he grunted, his trademark grin lining his lips.

"I've seen all your moves, you can't win," she said matter-of-factly. He wasn't phased.

"We'll see,"

They broke apart and started to slowly circle each other, their lone audience member long forgotten. After a while, Beck decided it was his turn to make the first move. His first step forward, he flung his disc at her head. He continued when she ducked under his disc and swung upward, expecting him to be attacking from the front. She was shocked however when he saw him sliding on his knees under her. A feint memory of their first encounter flashed in her mind when he had done the same move, only to be caught around the neck by her grip.

By the time she had flipped around, he was already swinging his disc at her. Reacting quickly, she flung her main hand to meet his. Her parry was deflected but it achieved its goal of knocking his attack in another direction. She had forgotten about that move, and she approved of him pulling out old tricks. But she hoped he had more in stock than just the one.

She threw a quick jab at him with her off arm, baiting a grab from him she could use against him. Instead, he let go of his disc, using his now free hand to cup her wrist in his palm and shove it back towards her. With the strength of his arm, her arm was awkwardly against her chest and blocking her right arm from swinging. As his one arm held her, his other bashed the center of her chest with the palm and knocked her back. She flew backwards and saw him catch his disc before it reached the ground.

 _Wow… when did he get so fast?_ His movement and attack had been faster than she could have imagined. If she had blinked during it she would have missed what he had just done.

"That all you got?" he challenged, his demeanor cool and steady as he put his disc away and held his hands out. His left fully extended in front of him as the right stayed closer to his chest. His left leg was extended forward as his right seemed to hold most of his weight. This was not Tron's fighting style and she had no idea where it came from.

She flung herself to her feet and rushed him while putting her own disc back. She needed to test this new fighting style of his and get back into it. In the back of her mind she wondered if the disc mod had made her perception of time faster and without it she was much slower.

Her fist snapped at his stomach, an odd opening that would hopefully show her some choices while not allowing for him to make an easy grab and control the fight. His hand knocked hers out of the way expectantly and she threw a punch while his arm was extended downward. His muscle rippled as the energy traveled through it. Sadly, he grasped her wrist and spun in a 180 to launch her over his back. Her fall wasn't as bad as she predicted, her body sliding across the floor before coming to a stop a few meters away. She managed to get back to her feet only to have Beck's fist knock her back.

Out of breath, this was not how she thought it would go. He was supposed to be rusty, but maybe the time spent fighting the disc mod had made him stronger.

Paige stood back up and focused, waiting for him to make the first move.

Beck charged her, her skin tingling with anticipation. It was eager, willing to listen to her commands and win the fight. He started with a kick aimed at her legs, but her foot was faster and kicked his shin down. He replied with a punch. She held it and elbowed him in the face. The mechanic stumbled back holding his chin.

She was feeling back in the game and advanced in with unrelenting force. No longer was she taken off guard by his hidden set of fighting skills. Whenever he countered or made an opening for himself, she quickly used his push to make her own opening. Kicks would followed by jabs, blocked, and after the cycle of parrying each other, one would land a hit, often at the price of a hit themselves. Even when they preferred combos or highly skilled unique assaults the other managed an escape.

The entire time Quorra watched in awe as the medic who she had last seen a crumpled mess on the floor in Gallium, now fought with such tenacity and tempered combat training. It was hard to believe it was the same person. The Renegade was equally as talented. Never did his focus wave and his ability to keep up, matching Paige's speed with brute strength. Speed and nimbleness combatted with power and control.

Eventually, they did bring their discs out again. Light blue clashed with green, sparks flew and showered the two in golden lights. Like a show of handcrafted fireworks.

When the two decided to stop they were clearly drained. Covered in sweat, breathing heavily, and their body language indicating their exhaustion. They stood a few feet apart, staring at each other. Smiles greeted their faces and the two started chuckling before breaking into full blown laughter. Quorra wondered what was so funny. Maybe it had to do with their _Love._ Again, her mind wondered to the concept. The two were here, maybe now was her opportunity to ask, but upon looking at their exhausted states she thought against it.

 _Let the two have their fun with each other. That's what Flynn would want._ She decided as she slipped into the elevator unnoticed.

* * *

Beck sat at the edge of the bed and stared out to Tron City. The city seemed like it was farther away than Argon was to the Outlands hideout. Thoughts of Tron flew through his head as he tried to imagine how Tron would react to seeing him alive and breathing. He let out a small scoff.

 _He'd probably just tell me there's a lot of work left to do and would send me off to do some more missions._

Beck let the grin play on his lips. Mara and Zed were next to came to mind.

 _Mara would probably squeeze the life out of me. Bet she'd cry too. Zed… I hope he wouldn't be too mad._

He was still lost in thought when he felt a small hand glide from his shoulder, across his back, and come to a rest on his side. He turned his head to see Paige was now sliding down to sit on the bed with him.

"What are you thinking about?" Paige asked light heartedly.

"I was just thinking of how everyone would respond once I showed up," Beck leaned into Paige, her body seemingly molding to his as she pressed back. His hand rested on her knee while his thumb lazily drifted back and forth.

"Hey, I was wondering. When we were on the island, why didn't you say anything when you went to get the boat?" A soft chuckle came from Beck.

"That's a random question don't you think?"

"Well, I was just thinking that if you said something I might have listened to you later. Who knows I might have-"

"You shouldn't think like that," Beck cut her off solemnly, "We can't change what's happened, and to be honest, I wouldn't change a thing," he looked directly into her deep brown eyes, another trait they shared.

"Alright, but can I know anyway? For… _curiosity's_ sake?" Paige flashed him a teasing smile, one that he couldn't refuse.

"How can I say no to that smile?" muttered under his breath, not intending for Paige to hear, but feeling she had when her smile turned less teasing and more warming.

"I just didn't think about it. Most of the time I'm usually saving a normal Program, I don't usually explain what I'm about to do because there just isn't time. So I just hope they trust me. And while we, or mainly me, were working on the boat I kind of felt you weren't the commander in the enemy's Army, but just a regular Program I could meet walking around Argon," Beck took a small pause and looked at the treated black stone that housed the room they were in. His eyes shot open when he reanalyzed his words. He instantly turned to Paige, who was intently looking at him with emotional filled eyes.

"Not that you're just some normal, run of the mill Program. You're different from the rest. In a good way of course!" Beck started to notice his voice level changing per sentence with nervous reactions, reacting was not something he liked to be doing. Paige didn't stop him only for the amusement it brought her to see the usually silver tongued mechanic stumble over his own words. It would have been a tragedy to let this one in a life time opportunity go.

"Different huh?" Paige hid her smirk and asked with a less than expressed tone, hoping to provoke him into more of his ramblings. It wasn't the nicest thing to do, but she was still getting back at him for leaving her alone for so long.

"Different as in… special. Special to me. I think, in the short time we… actually talked and got to know each other, instead of trying to kill each other I saw what you really were deep down. I don't know how, but instincts told me to have faith in you, that you were simply mislead. When you showed me that spot on top of the bridge and you decided to let me in about your problems with Pavel, and when you started talking about wearing a mask… That was all I needed to know I was right. That you were someone who learned new things even if it wasn't in your coding, that you fought for the good of Programs even if that meant you might lose yourself to that cause, that you wanted to be free just like the rest of us,"

Midway through his speech, Paige had found his hand that rested on her knee and laced her fingers with his. Her heart was beating faster than any time she had been in a fight. The pounding in her ears was almost deafening, but she still managed to listen all the way through to the end. The medic looked away for a moment trying to calm herself, knowing she was blushing from the heat that her cheeks were feeling.

"I…" she started but didn't know what to say.

No words could explain the way he made her feel. How knowing he was, it was frightening to think of someone who could almost see right through any barriers a Program might have and see the person underneath. Unguarded, open, and completely vulnerable. That's what it was; he made her feel vulnerable, yet completely safe at the same time. Those feelings had mixed and fought each other in the beginning, her fear winning over in the end. Now, it was her courage and trust that won the fight. And somewhere deep inside her, she felt pieces of her become whole once more. Longing something she hadn't known she missed, companionship. However, Paige knew that she and Beck were more than just friends, more than just rivals on the battlefield, more than just two Programs who shared far too many similar thoughts and wants about the Grid. They were becoming something Paige had never felt or experienced before, and allowing her intuition settle an idea in her mind she figured Beck was also thinking the same thing.

Beck, who was staring at Paige for the whole duration of her deep thinking, was satisfied to wait.

"I, really didn't expect a speech like that after your stuttering mess," Paige looked up to Beck. Her smile held a combination of laughter and sincerity. When he looked into her eyes, he was lost on the word he would use to describe what they were projecting. The look made his heart skip a few beats, while hypnotizing him into their rich chocolate spheres. The two heroes stayed locked in their positions for a long blissful moment, neither aware of time nor place.

 _What is it that I'm feeling?_

 _Is there a word for this feeling?_

Beck was the first to break the connection.

"I had to redeem myself," Beck quipped halfheartedly, instantly regretting it feeling he had ruined the moment.

"You know, sometimes it's best to keep your mouth _shut_ Renegade. Helps keep the moment," she whispered the last part wispily into his ear as if reading his mind.

"Did you just…" Beck trailed off as he realized what he was about to ask was rather outrageous, and would probably go further to break the mood.

"I think it's one of your flaws, ruining the mood," Paige teased. Beck simply huffed in response.

"But I think I can handle it, and…" she edged closer to him. Both had their eyes shut, enjoying the heat and presence the closeness brought them.

"I think I'll be the one to bring it back," acting on her words, she closed the millimeter distance of their lips. Both allowing their emotions out in their heated yet chaste kiss. Paige had wrapped her arms around Beck's neck while he wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her body closer to him.

Lost in their own world, the two failed to notice that their secondary circuits had started to glow brightly. A mix of Beck's sapphire blue and Paige's ruby red had replaced their circuits with a brilliant violet shade for a moment.

* * *

Their time at the hideout was spent quickly. Two cycles was a terrible time frame, leaving the people just enough time to rest and start work again, but not to fully recover. Thankfully, that wasn't the case for Beck and Paige, restoring their bodies and minds. Their last day was spent the same as the first, training and learning from each other, sometimes with Quorra.

They had come along since their first encounter. New styles, a sharper sense of the battle area, opponents, faster reflexes, harder hits, etc. Building on each other. As was common in war, the development of combat, technology, and person.

"Are you ready?" Beck looked toward Paige who was looking around her area of the room to make sure it was tidy.

"I wish we had more time," Paige's voice was deflated. Beck walked over and put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her into a light embrace.

"Me too, but the others need you, they need us," Paige let herself sink into Beck's hold.

The door opened to reveal an oblivious Quorra standing there.

"Oh, am I interrupting something?" Beck chuckled in response.

"Is she always like this?" Beck whispered to Paige.

"Yes, always," she groaned back.

"No, we were just getting ready," Beck and Paige pulled apart from each other and turned toward Quorra.

"Wonderful, Flynn wanted to see the both of you before you left,"

"We'll be right there," Beck answered curtly. Quorra closed the door leaving the two Programs to themselves once more. Beck looked at Paige and felt the sorrow that she was expressing.

"Let's go see what Flynn needs," Paige sighed.

"Right," Beck led the way out of their room and headed straight for the outside balcony of the mountain. Kevin Flynn could easily be seen sitting on his legs with his arms lying on top of them. Quorra was sitting cross legged on the ground nearby looking around her environment as if trying to fully understand it.

She saw Beck and Paige walk out from the barrier. Quorra quickly stood and silently left the area as Flynn continued to keep his head tilted upward but his eyes closed.

"So, you guys are about to fight with your Uprising again, feeling butterflies in your stomach?" Flynn said after a moment. He looked over to the two Programs who appeared calm for a pair about to head back to war.

"Butterflies?" Beck asked.

"Oh right, they're from my world. They're beautiful little creatures that have a bunch of colors and seem to float around, you'll have to see them one day man," Flynn looked back toward the sky once more.

"You wanted to see us before we left?" Beck inquired, trying to get back on pace.

"Right, I wanted to give you something," Flynn slowly stood up and walked over the two.

"I held on to something from my old life, or at least I couldn't find a good time or place to let it go," Flynn started. "In my world, you find someone you love, and you propose a vow of undying love and devotion to this person," Flynn looked back and forth between the Programs.

Beck and Paige were taken by surprise at the direction in which the conversation was going. The two had their eyebrows raised in surprise as they were taken off guard by the direction of the conversation.

"I found my soulmate, the one person I didn't think I could live without," Flynn took a moment as if recalling an old memory. "She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen… so full of life, people thought I was alive, but she was… she was something else man,"

Unknowingly, Paige moved her body closer to Beck's until she was brushing up against him. Beck felt their hands brush and started to twitch his fingers in nervousness, causing them to touch Paige's more.

"Sadly, she was taken from me in an accident," Flynn once again paused, as if to let the gravity of the situation set in. Paige pulled her hand away from Beck's fidgeting one for a brief moment, leaving Beck momentarily disappointed before sliding her's into his and holding on tightly. "It was hard at first, but I found meaning to life again, in my son. If it wasn't for him, I don't think I would have carried on," Kevin drew in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly.

"But enough of the back story, let me get on with it," Flynn reached into his white robes and pulled out two rings. "These are our wedding rings. These rings signify the bond that two people have with each other, they are devoted to each other until death separates them," he held out a ring to both of the Programs. The two took the rings in their free hands.

"I wanted to give these to my son when he was old enough but I don't believe I'll be able to do that, and Tron wasn't… his love wasn't right, and I haven't seen Yori since the old Grid anyway, I'm sure she's gone."

"I think Tron's mentioned her before," Paige said with sympathy and interest.

"She was from the old system, back when I first came here. Her user and I were friends along with Tron's. If it wasn't for Yori we probably wouldn't be here," Flynn answered gently.

"Are Tron and Yuri's Users married?" Beck wondered. Flynn laughed.

"Yeah," the User answered with a chuckle "Lora and Alan got married a few years ago. After everything that happened in my first visit and the risks they took in the real world, they stopped dancing around their feelings and he finally asked her out."

"Are they happy?"

"When I last saw them they were. I hope they still are," Flynn replied listlessly.

"I'm sure they are," Paige smiled brightly.

"Back to the rings, they're worn on the left hand on the ring finger," the two Programs looked at Flynn, confused.

"Ah, right you guys wouldn't know what that is either. It's this one," Flynn lifted his left hand and pointed to his ring finger. Quorra walked through the barrier and looked toward the group.

"I believe we should be leaving," she announced. Flynn looked to Quorra.

"Right, timing is important," Flynn turned back to Beck and Paige. "When you two are ready, you should put the rings on each other's hand."

Beck and Paige both looked at Flynn with wide eyed expressions. Kevin simply laughed in response.

"Kids, they never see it do they?"

"Hey, we're not the young!" Paige protested. Beck started to laugh at this point.

"Paige, we are pretty young for all of this," Beck looked at Paige with amusement. She returned her gaze with annoyance.

"We should be going," Quorra stated once more.

"I'm glad to have met others who still believe, now go! Start a revolution and bring balance to the Grid!"

* * *

AN: Hello, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was a pain in my ass to write. I wanted it to be right, and with characters that I have no true reference on love and heart felt sentiment, it's hard to make sure they are doing what they're supposed to. I had about three different things written out. So in light of making this chapter the best it could be I finally asked for a Beta Reader.

I made sure there were as little grammatical errors as possible. I felt my writing got very repetitive in style, and instead of trying to rework it I left it. So if you feel the same let me know, just helps me work on weak points.

A special thank you to Krisdaughter of Athena for reading it and lending a hand. Direct feedback is a lifesaver to overthinking.

Another thank you to Gabenator5 for their idea on this chapter. I had a simple plan for this chapter and with the idea, I rewrote almost everything I had, for the better.

On a personal note, Your Name is an amazing movie that illustrates how I feel on a daily basis. A longing for something you don't know what's missing, but you're aware that it is.

And the new season of Samurai Jack. Especially with how it's going, it leads a similar path to Paige's. I highly suggest you watch it if you haven't already.

But enough rambling. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading and thank you again Kris and Gab for help on this one!

-Rose's Requiem.


	21. These Hopeful Machines (Arc II 7)

These Hopeful Machines

* * *

Terrorized screams filled the city. Citizens torn from their homes and forced into prison lines and lead to detainment cells. Some screamed, others shouted in retaliation for their unlawful handling, a few glared in hatred at the towering orange guards. No longer were they going through the subtleties of abducting Programs from isolated regions, that time had past. Programs had been confused when they came to the train stations to find the area closed off. Roads and express ways to other cities blocked off.

Mara kept himself to the shadows as she helplessly observed the horde of sentries escorting the captured Programs.

"This is barbaric," Perl's voice called over the radio.

"We need to make a plan. This is exactly why we're here isn't it?" Link asked.

"Form up around the intersection. We'll smoke out the road and sneak our way with the hostages to the northern alleyway. If we time it right, there will be a gap in the patrol," Perl commanded.

"Move!" she barked after everyone had made it into position. Smoke containers exploded around the intersection.

"Move out! Don't let them-" the sentry was cut off as a boot collided with his face, sending him flying into a group of guards. Their training was paying off. Tactically precise, the portion of the Defiance working under Gav and Perl had quickly dispatched threat to the Argon prisoners and successfully escorted them into the alley. Next, the Programs were on their way through the tunnels to the coliseum.

"Go on princess," Zed motioned for the skittish Program to get moving up the ladder.

"Another group dropped off," he called over the comms.

"I see them, good job," Gavistan called from the command center in the press box.

"You sure you don't want to be out here Gav?" Perl asked, already making her way out to round up another group.

"It's not that I don't _want_ to be out there, but it's best to stay here and watch over the operations," he responded.

Mara wished she could join in their excitement, or at least put the fact that Tron had been captured out of her mind.

"We'll get him back," Zed reassured, reading her mood with ease.

Ever since Wardog had returned, the Defiance had been in a frantic mess trying to figure what their next move was going to be. Using the hideout's advanced monitoring equipment, they had kept track of Tron's position. The Specialists figured it a show of force that Dyson took no effort in trying to hide Tron's detainment.

With the Defiance's biggest chess piece gone, the Occupation took to the streets of Argon with no remorse. Any former attempts of covert home invasion were ceased.

"We can't keep doing this," the cyan haired mechanic muttered, her head swimming from the lack of sleep.

"What else can we do? We have a few people resting so we can keep the rescue missions going," Zed replied, equally as exhausted.

"But we're not enough! We need more people,"

"And that's exactly what's happening. Everyone we save is a potential recruit. Someone to help us fight,"

"They're untrained. We can't use them to fight something they're not prepared for,"

"Mara, Zed. We have a group coming to help you," Perl informed over the radio.

"Another? But everyone is already out," Mara questioned.

"This is a group from the Programs rescued. Volunteers,"

" _See?_ We already have some coming around!" Her boyfriend encouraged as he watched the group of new resistance members coming to meet up with them.

"Yeah, but they'll just get in the way," Mara uttered darkly before stomping off.

"She didn't mean that," Zed eased to the confused Programs, "Let's go and help some people, eh?" he proposed with heart as he headed toward the grate that lead to the maze of the underground tunnels and sewers.

* * *

Hours went by. The Defiance, restless and exhausted, still out to save as many Programs as they could manage. Some of those saved were brave enough to join the Defiance and help free others, allowing some of the renegades to get some much needed rest.

So far, they had saved a couple hundred. A high number at first glance, but in comparison to how many thousands that were in Argon, it meant nothing. It was hopeless thinking. Numbers never added up in their favor. The Defiance had a few dozen, while the Clu had hundreds of thousands. It was a thought that had run along each member's mind. How could someone not think it?

Dyson had taken advantage of that fact. His tactical use of resources, pushing the Defiance into repetitive action so they couldn't rest their forces. Being stretched thin and overworked lead to mistakes. Close and risky calls had been made, but no one other than Tron had been captured, a miracle from Flynn himself. But it was only a matter of time before their luck ran out.

"Mara… we can't keep going," Zed wheezed out, his body drained. The pair had just come back from retrieving another group of captured civilians. It had went well, saving another three dozen, but walking through the tunnels, Zed had nearly blacked out. They both slept a cycle and a half ago, so he knew she was feeling the same. Whether it was anger or determination keeping her on her feet, he wasn't quite sure. Little of column A, little of column B.

"And leave those innocent Programs to be turned into mindless soldiers?" she all but snarled at him, her eyes alit with hatred and frustration. Zed froze in his boots. The last time he had seen her like this was when she was influenced by the gas. Which explained her determination for the others. The loss of control over herself, she had mentioned once how it had scared her. She had no way of stopping herself, she would have killed him had it not worn off in time.

"No! But what hap-"

"Then we keep going!" she bellowed over him.

"Mara," he reached out for her but she slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch-"

The slap deafened the area. People milling about the coliseum arena froze and stared in wonder. He hand't noticed Perl approach, nor had Mara apparently. The bright red mark on Mara's cheek seemed to shine brightly against her skin and coincide with her shock.

"Get over yourself," Perl growled, "Tron told you to toughen up. Yet you're still acting like a child. This is _war._ You can't save everyone, how many times will we have to tell you before you learn?" Pure disgust spit from Perl's lips. Zed edged closer to Perl expecting Mara to lung at the girl, but instead she crumpled to her knees and started to sob.

"…It's not fair…" she managed to say out. Perl scoffed and started to briskly walked off.

"Nothing in life is fair," And directed to Zed, "Make sure your _Princess_ gets some sleep," Before she was out of earshot.

Zed wasted no time in doing just that. Nearly dragging his girlfriend to the sleeping area of the makeshift barracks. He tried to reassure her as they went, doing his best to keep her from hysterics.

 _Sigh._

This was the girl he had fallen in love with. A handful, but so was he. Finally managing to coax her to sleep, he made his way to find Perl. He hoped that the other two Specialists had made a suitable plan for Tron's rescue. As he expected, they were in the command room, both looking as in bad of shape as he.

"How is she?" Gavistan asked, not looking up from the hologram of the metropolis area.

"She'll be better after some sleep," Perl still held some resentment from earlier in her rigid pose and cross expression.

"She better," she snapped before softening her words to a near whisper, "Really miss the Commander right now," she commented gently.

"Did you guys manage a plan to rescue Tron?" the two looked at each other. Zed felt the rings under his eyes as he looked at the others'.

"We have an idea... but it's suicidal. We're open to suggestions," Gavistan looked up with his lips pulled up. The grin fell away as fast as it came. Sleep deprivation did funny things to people.

"Haven't had a coherent thought since we started," Zed joked as he sat down by Perl. Her eyes had shut and she didn't stir when his butt connected to his seat.

"I think we need to start shifts for us,"

"Not it," Perl said quickly.

"NOT IT!" Zed followed, his fuzzy mind not realizing she was joking. Uncontrolled laughter broke out. Perl nearly falling over as Gav leaned heavily against the table.

It went on for a few solid minutes. The stress leaving their bodies with each laugh. A much needed respite for all of them.

"You guys get some sleep. I'll make sure that the Defiance keeps going," Gavistan said when they had calmed.

Zed hesitated, checking over the alternatives, finding none. Gav was the only one of value at this point, the soldier training proving to help him. Perl on the other hand had already stood and found the bed against the wall and made herself comfortable.

"You could go down to our barracks. Better beds," Gav noted dryly. One pink eye stared at him with the 'You must be kidding' expression.

"Right, right, stubborn," Zed heard from Gav before he exited.

A budding relationship.

* * *

Only a couple petros passed when Perl started to wake. Gavistan looked over from the map and watched as she stretched her arms over her head and sat up.

"What?" She asked, catching him staring. He blinked the haze away and directed his attention back to the map. If he had the energy he'd be blushing.

"Nothing, just... tired," he excused.

"Well, I'm up," she presented with standing up and walking over to him. "Go ahead and get some rest," she suggested sweetly.

When had she gotten so close? She smelled nice, and his mind was refusing to listen to his commands to focus on the map.

"I'm fine," he managed without sounding exhausted, only tired. He couldn't move to look at her, but he could feel her glower digging into his back. "Go ahead and-"

His voice got stuck in his throat when he felt her hands run up the back of his head and stroke his hair.

"C'mon tough guy. You need sleep too," His arms started to fail him, slowly he watched with blank interest as the map came closer. His mind was solely concentrated on the blissful sensations of her fingers combing his hair.

Without his knowledge, he let out a low groan that sounded oddly like purr.

"Am I interrupting?" A new voice called from the entrance.

The two started and looked towards the new comer. She was recognized instantly.

"You're back," Gav stated the obvious, noticing the Program standing behind Paige. She walked in and quickly observed the two's exhausted state.

"We stopped at Tron's hideout. The girl there said to come here for a full synopsis of the situation,"

" _We?_ " Perl asked looking over her shoulder at the spiky haired Program behind her.

"Name's Beck," he introduced himself by stepping out, "Also known for being the Renegade," he remarked nonchalantly.

" _Beck?"_ Another Program said from the doorway. Everyone turned to find Link with his eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"Yo-You're back! I need to t-tell the others!" he exclaimed before anyone could stop him from running off.

"Shouldn't we stop him?" Perl looked to Gav who slumped back to his chair.

"No. We need a morale boost. And who better than the Renegade himself," The radio cracked to life as the voices of excited chatter came through.

"Beck's alive?"

"That's not possible. Tron said he was dead!"

"Honest! I saw him with Paige! He's back! He's alive!"

"That was fast," Beck noted with a smile.

"Well, you can take care of things right?" Perl asked without waiting for an answer. She proceeded to drag Gavistan from his seat, towing him towards the exit. "These two are well rested. They can take it over from here," she explained to a protesting Gav.

"They need to know about Tron," his words froze the room.

Beck's mind raced. What had happened to him? He couldn't have been derezzed. Not when Beck had just come back. Was it a cruel fate against them? One couldn't exist while the other did?

"He's been captured by the Occupation,"

In hindsight, Beck would have understood that any answer besides 'He's fine, just sleeping downstairs' would have made his stomach lurch in that sickening twist of distraught pain. After he recycled the words and understood them better, he eased. That's when he noticed Paige's hand gripping his arm in a vice hold. Her expression seemed to capture all the stomach rolling feeling he had just felt. In that single moment he found something he hated as much as Clu. And he hoped that in all his power, he could keep Paige from ever showing it again.

"We've been trying to make a plan to save him, but Dyson isn't a fool. He has everything covered. Nothing we come up with doesn't involve losing a majority of our people and with little hope of saving Tron. Right now, he's at the main Occupation base at the edge of Argon's downtown. Rinzler on his 24/7 surveillance," Perl stated, "All the information we have is on the desk. Hopefully you two can make something up," she mentioned before shuffling off with Gav securely held in her arms.

"Let me be the first to welcome you back to the Uprising," Paige said before examining the data upon the main table.

"Thanks," he said as he began looking at other files on a different screen, "I wonder if I should make an announcement," He said looking back to the radio on the wall next to the window overseeing the arena.

"I don't see why not. Go for it, _Renegade_ ," she teased, giving him a playful shove. His lips moved up to show a brilliant smile. User, she'd never get tired of it.

She watched as he picked up a radio and pressed the switch on.

"Attention Defiance," the chatter that had filled the open channels quieted. Paige couldn't help but watch transfixed. Something about him always took on a different aura when he turned serious. He never did things with half hearted effort, always looking towards the goal with full minded determination. As he did with her. The thought flowed through her. She had his full attention, full devotion.

It was odd. Feeling complete with someone else. When not too long ago, she was utterly incomplete that nothing made sense. She smiled as he looked over at her with a questioning glance.

This world...

She laughed silently at the thought. How had one Program come along and changed everything?

The Users themselves would be jealous.

"This is the Renegade. For the mechanics I've worked with, you know me as Beck. What Link has been telling people is true. I've come back to Argon. My fight with Clu isn't over, and I'm back to finish the fight,"

"I've heard about Tron. We _will_ rescue him. I promise you that. This is our Defiance. Together we will stand against Clu and his corrupted reign over the Grid. We fight for the System. For the Users. And for all of the Programs!"

There was silence as they waited, unsure if he was done speaking or not. When the first cheer came, the rest flooded over the radio and could be heard throughout the coliseum. Hope has been restored to the Programs of freedom. If the Renegade had traversed death and back, then nothing was out of his, and subsequently their, reach. It was only a matter of how.

* * *

"Mara,"

"Ugh," she responded, but it came out as more a growl.

" _Mara_ ," The voice became more persistent.

" _What_ Zed? I thought you were the one who wanted me to sleep," she grit out. If she hadn't found the one comfortable spot on the cot she would have gotten up and strangled him.

"Mara, it's _important_. You need to get up!" he hissed urgently. His hand pressed into her shoulder and gave her a nudge. That did it.

"What Zed! For User's sake, you were the one who was forcing me to go to sleep," She looked to her wrist and found that she was near her two hour mark, "Oh. Sorry, I guess I didn't realize it was-"

"That doesn't matter. We need to get up to the command room," He looked like he had seen a ghost. His skin seemed whiter, but at the same time, he looked elated. Excited but in disbelief.

"Alright," she stood and stretched her limbs. She felt better, more coherent at the least, but her whole being clearly cried out for more rest. "Can you tell me what's going on now?" as they started to walk.

"Beck's back,"

* * *

The door to the command room swished open letting the two mechanics walk in. Programs bustled about in activity, checking scanners, looking at holograms of Argon city area, blueprints of plants, making notes before giving their findings to the Program at the center of it all.

Beck leaned over the table as he inspected different angles of the cargo and shipping dock area closest to Argon's core. He thanked the Programs who delivered new information which he added to another map that showed a majority of Argon's city area. This map showed the buildings in wireframes and the horde of warships floating above. Their red and orange light casting onto people's faces as they walked nearby.

His friends stared in disbelief. He was there, as if he hadn't left. Running the Defiance as originally intended.

Paige, standing next to the revived Renegade, noticed the two and motioned Beck's attention to the two. Their eyes met and everything felt surreal to the mechanics. Paige gave him a slight push while directing all the Defiance members to give her the information.

It was awkward as he approached. He had a sheepish smile, a hand rubbing the back of his neck. Zed looked on with a slack jaw, while Mara had her hands over her mouth and tears unabashedly running down her cheeks.

"Hey guys," Beck greeted. As he expected, Mara bolted and hugged him furiously, weeping silently. The boys looked at each other, knowing smiles on their faces. And with it, everything seemed to be sorted. They had been given one of their friends back.

"Welcome back," Zed said, the strength of his emotions threatening to overtake his voice.

"Thanks, Zed," He replied while petting Mara's head. "Missed you guys,"

"So did we. Where have you been?"

"Long story, I'll tell you when things calm down," There was a comfortable pause.

"I hear you two are together now," Beck smirked as his friend looked away with redden cheeks.

"Paige told you huh?"

"Bout time,"

"Oh shut up! You weren't any help back then!" Beck laughed.

"That's cause _you_ had to man up and tell her,"

"Didn't mean you couldn't give me advice!" Zed protested.

" _Me?_ I haven't dated anyone before! Bodhi was the only one of us who did that,"

"And?"

" _And?"_ Beck asked incredulously.

"I'm sure he gave you tons of advice. You two were like brothers!"

The two were interrupted by Mara's laughter. She stepped away from Beck and smiled, her tears having stopped earlier.

"Oh you two," she said wiping the wetness from her eyes.

"What do you think? Should I have helped?" Beck asked. Mara gave it some thought before answering.

"I don't think it would have mattered. He wouldn't use it. Mr. Timid over here," she teased her boyfriend.

"Me? _He_ was the one who didn't even _talk_ to girls!" Zed pointed at Beck hotly.

"By choice. I wasn't looking for that," He defended himself, "But the fact that you managed to talk to Perl was pretty brave," Zed waved that off.

"Doesn't count,"

"What are you doing here?" Mara asked, steering the conversation toward the business of the command room.

"I'm having everyone update our information on the city and Tron's location. Hopefully, I can come up with something then,"

"Do you have any ideas yet?" Zed questioned.

"I do," Beck said rubbing his chin and looking thoughtful, "I just need to make sure on somethings before I decide it's time to make a move,"

"What can we do to help?" Mara volunteered energetically.

"Get some rest. I have most of the Defiance resting up. These are mostly Programs you guys saved so it shouldn't be a problem. Once I'm sure of the plan, I'm going to scout out the area myself, see if I can get a feel for Dyson's forces,"

Mara and Zed gave each other look.

"Will you be okay by yourself?"

"I'll have Paige with me. I'll be fine," Beck reassured the couple.

Zed grumbled. "The last time you two were out with her, you got derezzed,"

" _Funny,_ Zed," Mara elbowed him.

"Trust me. She has my back," His friends just gave him a hopeless look.

"Of course we know that Beck. She's our friend too," Mara said gently, making Beck's eyebrow rise. He had forgotten that Mara and Paige had gotten closer while he was gone. His two- no, _three_ worlds had collided. The Renegade, Beck the Mechanic, and… the other Beck. The one that only came out when he was with Paige. He wasn't sure how long it'd take for him to get used to it.

"She loves you too much anyway," Zed noted as if it was painfully obvious.

"Aww, look who's still shy about his first girlfriend," Mara teased, pinching Beck's blushing cheeks.

He smacked her hand away and gave his best glower, coincidentally learned from Paige.

"Oh look, he's trying to imitate her now. He's whipped," Zed whispered to Mara conspiratorially.

"Well she _did_ manhandle him. He's probably afraid of her still," Mara whispered back.

"Hey!" Beck protested before the three broke into laughter.

"I should probably get back to it. The faster we get Tron back, the faster we can stop Clu," he grew serious once they had all calmed. His friends nodded.

"We'll make sure to rest up for the right time. IT's good to have you back Beck," Mara said deeply.

"And next time," Zed started with a smirk, "Tell us when you're a superhero saving the Grid on your own,"

" _Superhero?_ You didn't have that impression the last time I heard you talking about the Renegade," Beck called after their retreating figures.

"Yeah well, that was before I knew _you_ were the next Tron," Zed shouted back as he and Mara rounded a corner.

There it was again. Someone else calling him Tron, equating him to Tron's ability. Had Flynn not said it, he'd still be hard pressed to deny the notion. Now, he was only soft pressed to deny. He'd have to talk to Tron about it. But for now, he could at least work harder to match his mentor's level of effort.

The Renegade turned and found his lovely medic glaring at him with dangerous eyes.

 _What?_ He asked in his head.

 _You are working_ plenty _hard, Mechanic._ She looked back down to the map.

He wasn't sure if he had truly heard her in his mind or just imagined the whole thing.

 _Must be my imagination._

 _You wish._ Her voice echoed. He looked at her and found her steadily working, but made a few glances at him out of the corner of her eye. He swallowed nervously. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

Dyson looked blankly at the video feed of Tron. They would have to transport him back to Tron City soon along with all the other Programs from Argon. Keeping his securely restrained would present his largest challenge. Crippled, he wasn't a problem, but as a fully restored form of himself he was capable of almost anything. It was a wonder how the MCP managed to contain him before Flynn's arrival. He was thankful for Rinzler's presence. He alone could hold the great savior of the Grid for a long period.

He drummed his fingers slowly against the table. His mind raced to devise a suitable plan. Keeping him sedated seemed like the best option.

The door to his office slid open and Rinzler's purr could be heard. Dyson turned his chair and regarded the System Monitor with open inquiry, letting the Program hand him a tablet of surveillance. More Programs being rescued by the Defiance was all the device had to offer him, and it didn't surprise him. The sentry's reports had already reached his attention. A few losses had been irrelevant. The Defiance could have a few useless Programs, it would exhaust them further and lead to mistakes. Mistakes he could use to destroy them.

"Rinzler, I'm sure you've analyzed their movement and patterns. Spread what you've found to the Black Guards and see if they can kill these annoying pests. I want you to watch over Tron continually. Is that understood?" Dyson ordered, sneering near the end. The mute Program simply nodded and walked out.

Clu's pet had been a blessing and a curse. He was a perfect soldier. Intelligent enough to make decisions for himself about how to execute plans, and obedient enough to not question orders. Being mute was a bonus to Dyson as well, silence was hard to find in minions. Most loved to question orders because they were too stupid to understand them, let alone the bigger picture.

But what usually came with intelligence was disobedience. That lesson was painfully taught when Tron had been rescued in the beginning. Of course his scouts had turned up evidence of the lone sentry who asked too many questions. Somehow he had retained his mind through the repurposing.

Dyson sneered at no one in particular. Repurposing. Such a horrible necessity. It reduced the Program's intellect so drastically, what was the point of doing it at all if an army of a thousand could be beaten by a thinking group of ten? Oh, he understood the need. Undying loyalty was hard to come by. Manipulation was a very precise art, mistakes could rarely be tolerated by the manipulator to have success. Commander Paige and Pavel were prime examples. Though, Dyson wondered why Tesler kept Pavel around. He was utterly useless. But the General had done a good job of keeping the two on a short leash, Dyson actually admired his skill. It was incredibly demanding to accomplish, even more difficult to find the opportunity. Many Programs were too isolated, most weren't worth the effort. It seemed the more convivial Programs were, the smarter. As evident of Tron's former task force.

Which all came back to questions circling Rinzler. How had Clu made such a perfect soldier? Was it simply because he was a System Monitor? No. A System Monitor made by Flynn, given powers that no other Programs had. Maybe that gave Clu certain capabilities to play with Anon's code. Curiouser and curiouser…

"Commander?" He called after pressing for the radio.

"Yes sir," The flat tone of one this former comrades answered.

"Take a few squads and make sure our prisoner is secure. Rinzler will be with him,"

"Yes sir," The monotone voice answered before the line died. Dyson sighed. At least his former squad was still _semi_ competent after the repurposing.

* * *

"Keep moving," one of the faceless sentries growled. The Programs cowered in fear at the baton's end lit up in color. Seconds later, smoke began filling up the narrow urban street. Occupation drones spread out in predicable fashion. Grunts and bodies collapsing filled the smoke with their distraught noises. Closer and closer the unseen force came, as the sounds of more Programs continue to close around the remaining standing sentries. Eventually there was only one left. The sound of his panicked breathing filling his helmet. The prisoners long forgotten.

"You know…" a distorted tone called from the fog, "My friend was derezzed by a baton just like that one," the voice drawled menacingly. The sentry, with fear filling his veins, threw his weapon and pulled his disc out.

"Well that wasn't too bright. You had a better chance with your baton,"

It sounded like he was right on top of him. The soldier took a step back and felt himself bump into something tall. He flipped around like a madman and slashed the... light post minding its own business. Sparks sparked to life and death before the pole toppled over. He attempted to relax but when he looked back to the remains of the pole, he found a white armored Program.

"Boo,"

* * *

"How's it looking out there, Renegade?" A familiar voice called over the radio.

Beck, and his boyish attitude, couldn't help his response as he raised his wrist to his mask.

"Aww, come on Paige, it's just you and me. You don't have to keep calling me that,"

She made a grunting growl.

"But I get it. Old habits die hard," he teased. His reward was a tired sigh.

"Be- _Renegade_. We went over this-"

"I can't recall,"

"-It's better to use our code names incase the Occupation manages to figure out our frequency,"

"..."

"But Doctor is... not you,"

"Medic will do just fine,"

"Should I say it more as a pet name or-"

" _Codename_. Last thing I need is Mara and Zed hearing you,"

"Are you embarrassed seen talking to me? _Medic,"_

"Fine. You win,"

"Beck. How is it going?"

"I'm doing well, how are you _Sweetie_?"

Paige banged her head against the table, Beck's laugh over the radio.

"Everything is going well. I'm sending another group through the tunnels," she lifted her head as he paused.

"I think they're wrapping up their patrols. Most of the city is empty. I think this is our opportunity to go for Tron,"

"Wouldn't all of Dyson's troops be at the base?"

"It's when he'd least expect it. I have a plan,"

"Okay. I'll get everyone ready. You're sure about this?" His girlfriend double checked him.

"Yes," his voice gave her chills.

One word, but a thousand meanings behind it. Raw determination and controlled bravery. Not fearless, as an arrogant leader would be. There was courage to face the fear.

To understand what was at stake and to not let fear define your decisions, only nudge them. Fear was no more harmful than Pride, too much and it controlled, too little and it lead to blind actions.

Balance is needed. Like in all things. Beck had come to that balance.

The balance of a hero.

All by how he said yes.

* * *

Dyson watched over the operation before him. In a modified carrier ship high above the sea. Escorted by dozens of Recognizers, Light Copters, and other highly armed flying vessels. Down below hundreds of Programs were escorted into tightly packed shipping units. Filled cargo units were hoisted up by a crane with a massive electromagnet and lifted to the freighter. Three different cranes were in use on the western side of the Solar Sailer to load the potential soldiers onto it.

In a few pectros, the whole operation would be complete and they could set off. After bombing and glassing the whole city of course.

The icy administrator walked through the carrier as he lazily watched his subordinates monitor the progress of the scouts and patrol groups. Tanks and Recognizers rolled around a three kilometer radius centered around the Solar Sailer with a virtually unlimited amount of resources and numbers. If someone asked Dyson if it was over kill, he'd probably respond by having one of the many tanks derezz them.

Search lights from helicopters crept up on dark corners, exposing the inner contents hidden from the world. Their peering gazes always turned up nothing. Which meant one of two things: Nothing was going to happen, which was highly unlikely, or the opponent was waiting for the right time to strike. And knowing his opponent, Dyson predicted it was the calm before the storm.

He waited with baited breaths for the Defiance. HIs fist clenched as he envisioned their demise by his hand. The satisfaction rolled off the idea and he felt the eagerness take him.

"Report," he commanded briskly when he reached the helm of the bridge.

"Tank battalions report no activity and their scans have picked up nothing. Recognizers and Light Copters have found run away Programs, none of which have any sign of being with the resistance,"

"Did you detain these Programs?" Dyson asked looking over at the formal looking advisor.

"Yes sir. We sent out groups to capture the strays. Their discs have no memory of working with the Defiance,"

"Good. Proceed,"

"Reconnaissance reports sightings of groups of gangs in the docks to the East. No sign of affiliation. I had scouts pull back. No need to waste soldiers on the small group only to have them derezzed,"

 _Not bad… but Tron alone was able to start an Uprising. Even lowly things can be a thorn if not properly dealt with._

"I want a fighter squadron to bomb the area. Then have scouts dispose of any survivors. I won't be letting some _hoodlums_ becoming an issue later,"

"Right away," the man went to his officers standing at the ready and issued out the orders.

 _I thought we had already cleansed that gang out of the docks…_ Dyson recalled. His sentries had reported back with the all clear. Sentries were highly reliable at times. Or maybe a rival gang had taken up the area… Possible, but unlikely, it had only been a cycle, not even.

 _Why then…_

"Sir," the advisor's voice broke him from his reverie.

"Continue, Captain,"

"Other reports from the scouts show activities in the tunnels on the far eastern area. Data obtained from Tesler's ship say that it's where the Argon Race would take place,"

"There's nothing out there but waste tunnels. I doubt it's the rebellion…" The officer waited patiently.

"Send a squadron of Black Guards to eliminate whatever they find. No discretion," A nod was the officer's answer.

"The rest of the reports are not worth noting,"

"In any case, leave the information with me. Leadership is not maintained with carelessness,"

"Sir," the officer saluted before leaving the pad on a nearby table.

 _What are you planning…_

* * *

An hour after the last report, the officer returned.

"Update, General. Bombing on the dock was successful. Scouts reported no survivors out of the twelve identified bodies. The tunnels were a diversion. The guards reported a group of escaping Programs. They were cornered but they took their own lives by jumping off a ravine,"

 _Hmm… No discs… all hearsay from the soldiers._

"The guards, did they check the ravine for disc?"

"Yes, only one was recovered,"

 _Oh… perhaps I'm wrong on my assumptions._

"Let me see it,"

"One moment," the officer retreated from the room and returned handing the disc over, "I reviewed the memories personally, it seems the Program is another stray from the city," Dyson skipped through the memories reviewing up to a week prior. It was a Program freed from one of the Defiance ambushes, managing to run away from the guards but not helped by the Uprising.

 _An odd coincidence…_

"I see," Dyson stated dully, "Have the disc disposed of after the information has been extracted," the officer left with another salute. Dyson watched he leave from the corner of his eye.

 _At least he is decently competent._

Alarms started from one of the consoles a drone sat at.

"The renegades are attacking the career. Smokes are clouding the entire area. Radio is scrambled and we can't reach-"

"Send out the helicopters,"

 _Trying the same tactic. Worthless. Just when I thought they were going to give me a challenge._

* * *

Thick, heavy smoke filled the area around the cranes. Prisoners murmured in excitement as they hoped for rescue. Sentries and soldiers stood their ground. But after some time, nothing happened. The smoke was quickly pushed off towards the ocean, where it hovered before dissipating. Everyone looked around to try to find the members of the Defiance, but none were scene.

* * *

"No reports on the rebels, Sir,"

"None…?" the System Monitor muttered to himself.

"We have patrols heading out to search,"

"No. Pull them back before they're ambushed. That's exactly what they want,"

"Affirmative," As the controller relayed the commands, Dyson's hand rubbed his chin in thought.

 _Maybe they aren't as dull as I thought… knowing regular response protocol. I suppose I have you to thank for that Commander Paige…_ He mentally grinned.

"Radio communication has been fully restored,"

 _They must have fully pulled out._

"Extend the perimeter. Pull patrolling tanks and Recognizers in to help. Secure the area and corner them. If they want to risk another feint, let them and we'll punish them for it," Dyson growled darkly. Exhilaration filled his body as he imaged the battle before him. It had been a long time since he faced an opponent who had a somewhat chance of fighting back. They may not have much in the way of resources, but enemy plans and strategies went a long way in war. Dyson only hoped Tron's puppet could use it intelligently before he snuffed them out completely. Maybe he could even salvage Tron's protégé for himself.

Without warning, the ship jerked and the lights flicked off for a moment before reappearing and alarms went off.

"Status!" Dyson barked.

"Power down in Sector 49, 52, 55!"

"Radio is now completely jammed! No communication outside of the ship!"

"More Sectors are losing power! The power grid to Argon is shutting down!"

Dyson walked to the outlook window and saw a blanket of darkness covering Argon, slowly consuming more and more.

 _Damn!_ He thought as he looked to the Solar Sailer and found it hard to spot.

"Why are the back up generators not operational?!"

"We don't know, Sir! We can't communicate with the ground!"

Search lights from helicopters and Recognizers roamed the area lighting up important areas of the operation. Dyson turned to head toward the exit.

"Send a group out to relay messages to ground personnel. Form up on the prisoners. I want reports from all Sectors. Secure them," he issued before leaving the room and made his way to the hangars.

* * *

Rinzler made no reaction when the power went out. When the lights turned off, so did the energy walls that secured the prison cells, and a blast shield slammed down to take its place. The locks on Tron's wrists and disc remained the same.

"Looks like my rescue is underway," Tron said to Rinzler not expecting a response. The Program's purr seemed to turn into a growl for just a moment. The footsteps of an approaching person started and Rinzler's discs were immediately at the ready.

"Stand down, Program," Dyson called as he rounded a corner with a squadron of Black Guards, "I wanted to make sure our special guest was secure. Make sure it stays that way. I need to return to the command center," Rinzler nodded before the General left. The guards split up into pairs of twos and stood at each end of the prison cells.

"So… _Anon._ What did he do to you? Dyson tortured me, destroyed pieces of me," Tron's words earned no response but he kept on anyway, "He crippled me. Until I was saved by a hopeful Program," Silence hung in the air for a moment.

Stunners flew from the darkness, one for each of the guards and Rinzler. Four of the five stunners hit their target, the last destroyed mid air by an impossibly accurate slash of a disc.

"Well, I'm flattered," a voice called out. The purring of the reformed System Monitor grew in pitch, his discs aimed to strike.

"Unless you were talking about Cyrus,"

Tron laughed as he looked around, "He did save me, but he's not the one I was talking about,"

Rinzler made a move for his wrist but a disc cut his communicator. The mute growled as he followed the disc's return path. He swiped where the Identity Disc disappeared but only cut air. Bombs instantly filled the area.

"Whoa!"

"Watch it, Beck! He's got a few mods!"

"Got it," the mechanic had appeared in front of the cell, quickly placing a large battery on the unit to reenergize the shield with his Recoder at work to unlock the prison.

It had only taken him a second to free Tron, but before the Renegade could unlock the restrictions on his mentor a growling Rinzler split the two apart.

Beck reacted by going on the offensive, striking with light swift attacks, hoping for an opening. Tron fell back and watched as he tried to free himself. Rinzler blocked the strikes with ease and made to end him in one swift blow, but before he could, was knocked back by a powerful kick that separated the two combatants.

The mind and body at ease. Deep calm breaths that filled him with relaxed and potential energy. With the energy of chi gathering and condensing in the core. Muscles lost their tension, allowing pathways for the chi to travel easily. Like electrical circuit ways being cleansed of resistance. Each intake of breath, the energy grew denser. Its bright glow becoming blinding. Every outtake, the supercharged energy flowed like water trickling down a leaf's crest to the extremities. Power infused with the body, generated with the mind, guided by the heart. Coiled potential controlled by calm serenity. Consciousness expanded. The area slowed but the mind still focused on the body. Awareness and senses became hypersensitive.

Beck slowly opened his eyes to see Rinzler moving toward him with both his discs leaving heat ripples in the air. Rinzler moved into melee range, and with cold steel determination, the mechanic stepped forward and erupted his fist. It contacted with Rinzler's chest, the energy pouring from one body to another.

There was no pain. Just the feeling of soaring through the air before the massive collision with the wall brought Rinzler a glaring focus. Excruciating pain coursed through the corrupted Program's body as he slipped from the dented impression of his body on the wall. He attempted to stand but fell to his knees when an explosion erupted in his chest. The bits and voxels expanded with superheated energy, causing them to break and crack. His insides felt as if they were popping, solidifying in their larger state, then melting into lava. All in a matter of nanos.

Training kicked in and he threw a disc at Tron's location where Beck was in the process of unlocking the shackles. The two separated as the deadly frisbee passed. It gave enough time for Rinzler to get back up and pressure the Renegade enough to keep him from freeing Tron fully.

"Keep your distance. He has-"

The floor shook from the massive strike that Anon's heavy disc attack caused. Beck, standing a few feet from ground zero, managed to ride the waves of power coursing the ground relatively well. Rinzler's disc charged with an electrical current, bolts of currents dancing from on the surface.

"Advice for this one?"

"Looks like he has new abilities. I still think-" Beck deflected one of the thrown discs with ease but found his body stiffening and stuttering.

"Beck!"

The Renegade was knocked out of the way before the second disc could eviscerate him. Tron stood first with Beck lagging behind, the electricity leaving his body.

"We gotta go," He shouted, dodging another electrified disc. Tron made a quick sweep of the area before his eyes landed on the cell.

"Beck!" The apprentice changed a look to Tron and saw his gesture. He nodded and made his way back, managing to kite Rinzler's volley and various moves. When Rinzler had closed on the cell, Tron leapt from the top of the adjacent cell.

Rinzler's helmet slammed hard against an edge inside the cell dazing him from Tron's kick. With time to spare, the two sealed the prison.

"He's no joke," Beck commented as he freed Tron's disc.

"He's Flynn's version of me. He shouldn't be," Beck's eyes widened.

"What-" Before he could finish, the broad shoulders from a hug stopped him.

"I didn't believe him… Flynn's done a lot of miraculous feats. But he's never brought someone back. I- I'm glad you… Thank you," There was a stagnant pause where Beck was too shocked to answer.

"I'm sorry," Tron said as he took a step back, "We should go,"

The gaping fish shut his mouth and snapped back to reality.

"What about him?" he looked at the prison cell.

"We have to leave him for now. This isn't our opportunity," Tron said as he headed toward the exit.

There was a pause where Beck second guessed his mentor. They had Clu's most valuable asset locked in a cell at their disposal.

 _Don't hesitate. Feel. Flow. Act._

* * *

Dyson's fist clenched around the baton, the black bar cracking under the pressure. Power had been limitedly restored to the area. By… _creative_ means. Some of the war ship had flown down and linked with buildings to provide the power.

"Sir, we have failed-" the officer was on his knees instantly, a baton bashing the back of his leg.

"I get tell. But you have a creative solution. Precisely why you are not derezzed at this moment," his glower was calm but stern.

"The-" a cough ensued, "The power appears to be cut off at station. The rest of the city has power. I've sent out a large amount of our forces to recapture the plant," the officer stood hesitantly.

"Appropriate response. I want you to send more guards to Tron's holding cell,"

 _Why I didn't do this immediately…_ he berated himself. He analyzed the area before him. The feeling stirring in his gut told him he was missing something. His eyes followed the movement of his troops, the hovering warships that swayed slightly, tanks, jets, and helicopters that roamed the area. He couldn't contemplate how the Defiance could possibly maneuver through, or why. They would be trapped at the Solar Sailer without a secure path way back. The ex-System Monitor knew of a handful of Programs capable of the level of stealth, three were working for the Occupation, one being himself, another locked in a cel protected by one, and… reports of the Renegade indicated a level of cunning and tactical awareness that equaled Tron's.

He had forgotten about the protégé, nothing of recent events had been his signature. But why would Tron not use his best asset in the war? Did he send him off to begin flames of rebellion in other cities?

 _Possible, but unlikely._ Tron would have to be supremely confident in his odds of winning over Argon. While sending a reliable source to begin a new foundation for their side , it would be premature to be thinking so far ahead in a war. Extending one's self too quickly was how a leader lost the war. But then a small idea clicked in his mind.

The last time he had any report of the Renegade was at the docks, back when the ex-Commander Paige had defected. The guards had been knocked unconscious instead of being derezzed. That was _his_ signature. He didn't kill… But there was still one dead body.

A number of scenarios ran through his mind.

One of the guards got lucky, a fatal injury that didn't derez immediately and he hid his disc for the sake of saving Tron.

 _No, highly implausible._

Dyson knew the Commander was linked. There was no explanation of why she decided to leave. What were the facts? The last anyone had seen of her, she had secured a Light Jet which reported to have crashed. In the area of the docks. The Renegade was spotted in the area, attempting to do what?

She had the most knowledge on Tron's apprentice at the time, having the most run ins with the vigilante.

 _He could have turned her… but then why would she betray him_ and _the Occupation?_

It didn't add up. He was spotted after… unless…

 _He was there to_ save _her!_ She wasn't fully on his side, but he considered her an ally, or planned to fully convert her. Which would explain why she acted on her own after the event.

 _Unable to pick sides…_

But the important part was that the Renegade was dead. Dyson returned his eyes to the overview. Even with the deduction of the Renegade's passing, the twinge in his stomach was still present.

 _Damnit._ His eyes were seeing the issue, but his mind wasn't catching it. _What was it?!_

The movement was fine, everything in order, but what wasn't moving… Buildings that were energized. All of them had a ship powering them. Except one. The unloading mechanism for the Solar Sailer. Why would it be powered? It wasn't in use, but his mind screamed that it was the problem.

"All forces converge on the Unloading structure! Secure the building!"

* * *

 _A few pectros earlier._

"Sector secure," Beta 3 of the Black Guard squadron reported to Beta 1, the squad leader.

"Good, let's continue our sweep. Scans from high command tell us we should be running into the strays in the tunnel section ahead. Discs at the ready," The group of four entered into the next area and set to work on finding their target.

"Beta, I've got a lead!" Beta 4 combed. The others met up with him at the edge of one of the tunnels that lead to the canyons of unformatted code. In the distance, the lights of Programs' circuit code could be seen.

"Go, go!"

The guards managed to traverse the rough terrain with ease and were upon what was five Programs struggling to make it through the harsh land.

"Sir?" Beta 4 asked.

"Detain them. If that's not possible, derez," Three affirmatives came over the radio. They converged on the Programs, stunners armed in their hands.

Right as they were in range, one of the citizens turned and the whole area went up in smoke.

"Back out! Find some-" one voice called but was taken over by a hard grunt. The sound of three bodies falling followed.

Beta 1 stood low, trying to reach command but only got a hissing static on his communicator. Slowly, like a tiger coming from the hidden cover of right foliage, a Program eased into his vision. The fog enveloped the two into their own private world. Fear coursed through the Occupation soldier's entire body as he felt his final moments approaching. The figure wearing Tron's insignia swung a stunner at the guard and the fog enveloped his soul in darkness.

* * *

"Beck, are you okay?" Paige asked as she could see his face twist in pain. She along with three others from the Defiance now wore Black Guard uniforms and were connected to soldier's discs. They had all just watched as the bodies tumbled over a cliff edge and exploded into voxels at the bottom. Using their Recoders, they managed to extract memories from the guards' discs and implant them onto their own. They would volunteer one of the discs to be used for inspection, mixing memories together from their own to create the perfect cover story for Dyson.

"I've never…" He didn't have to finish to get the message across. She knew exactly what he was going through. Their connection sharing his overwhelming guilt.

"It was hard for me at first too. But this isn't just you making a statement. The people know your message. Now it's time to fight for what you believe,"

"But look what we're turning into to do it… We executed them. There's no other way to look at it," She took his hand into hers. The contact soothing him greatly, as if understanding had been poured into him.

"The world isn't that simple. WE can't be the good guys without a little evil. They aren't pure evil either. We're not wrong, but we're not right," She paused as she thought back.

"Quorra showed me a symbol. Yin, and Yang. Two halves of one whole," Using a bit of snow left in the Outlands, she reproduced it for Beck to see. "See how at the center of one, the other resides?

"They compliment and complete each other. Just like you and I do. I've learned that nothing is pure. Everything is bittersweet in some form. You are fearless in helping others, but not yourself. I refuse to accept others, but am willing to save them. We are all good and evil. Do you understand?"

The hurt and sympathy in her eyes made him want to look away, it was so much emotion, and he wasn't sure if he could stomach it all. He kneeled down next to her and he slowly rested against her, his forehead meeting her shoulder.

"I see," he accepted, but the pain still filled him.

"Trust me. We _needed_ to. It was the one part of your plan that needed to be fixed," her cooing voice in his ear combined with the hand stroking his hair eased him. And he did trust her. Now more than ever. Whenever he needed it, she was there to catch him, as he was for her.

"Alright," he stated after standing, her hands on his forearms, "I'm ready," he nodded in confirmation. The Hero's Light returning to his face.

"Bring him back, Handsome," she gave him a kiss before placing a Black Guard helmet on.

* * *

The two squadrons of Black Guards met together in one of the hangers, a darker isolated corner where no one went.

"The Defiance was spotted at the Right Shard," Paige spoke the code phrase.

"The Occupation has secured the coliseum," The other leader answered before their helmet visor cleared and revealed Mara's blue hair and eyes.

"Good to see you back in orange," the medic gave a very sarcastic laugh.

"What's your squad name?"

"Zema,"

"Beta. Are we ready to start?"

"We're ready to go," Mara replied. Paige tapped her com link on her wrist. They waited a few nanos before one of the lights turned green.

"Beck's in position. Call Zed," Mara mirrored Paige's actions and after she got the green light on her com link the two squads started heading to the unloading building as the area blacked out.

* * *

The sentries had no chance as they were ambushed in the darkness. Their bodies dragged away as Zema team took over their guard position. Paige and her own squad went to the underground portion of the facility where most of the machinery was housed. Steam filled the air as pipes and various large movers were taking up a majority of the space. Catwalks and other small pathways were fit in tight areas, it screamed cramped. A typical engine room.

The soldiers went to the door in a secluded corner, knowing it lead to the tunnels that ran throughout Argon. On the other side of the door stood a majority of the Defiance, armed and ready to move. Paige held her hands up before removing her helmet.

"Let's go!" she barked and the renegades shuffled in. A few stayed, working on the small single passage way, placing small bombs on the walls. After the explosion, they cut away the debris and cleaned the area for smooth passage.

The others were already working hard at setting up equipment. The downed sentries were stripped of their armor and their bodies hidden, as members of the Uprising took their posts. Paige, along with most of the Programs went to the area underneath the cargo units of the Solar Sailer.

Hooks with ropes were thrown up to the walkways on the Solar Sailer where Gavistan and Perl were first to reach. After checking that they had secured as many lines as possible, Gav unlocked the first cargo unit. The Programs were on the verge of panic and elation of being free, but before they could leave, the Specialist stood before their saving grace.

"Listen up!" he spoke hard, but not loudly, "You need to be quiet and calm. Follow the members of the Defiance down the ropes and their directions. You will jeopardize this opportunity if you panic. Quickly and quietly, move,"

It took a moment for the first Program to move, but once they started to move, it was a smooth operation. The Defiance would hold onto the citizens as they rappelled to ground level where others were in place to direct them toward the lower tunnels. Slowly, but steadily, cargo units were emptied.

"Will we make it on time?" Perl butted to her companion as they opened their seventh container.

"No. Beck said as much. There's just too many people," he answered before giving his speech to new prisoners. They listened and left in an semi orderly fashion.

"Then how many people do you think we can save?" Gav thought over the question.

"Probably twenty containers all together,"

"That's nothing! There's almost two hundred units on this thing!" Perl hissed.

"You know what the true mission is. This is secondary," he looked at the rows of shipping containers before sighing and reaching into his pocket and pulling out a spare Recoder.

"Here, go and start unloading another group. Be ready to pull out on my call," Perl nodded and ran off. He hoped things on Beck's side were going well.

* * *

Beck and Tron ran through the upper scaffolding and launched themselves across rooftops. The younger of the two lead. They were still in the heart of Occupation controlled territory, with Recognizers and Light Copters flying over occasionally. Each time, search lights were close by and the pair would duck into cover where they could catch their breaths.

Alarms started over the area.

"Do you think they know I'm gone?" Tron half joked.

"Probably. Or Dyson figured out half of the plan,"

"Other half?"

"You don't think I came here all on my own do you?" Beck smiled as he leapt over a ledge between two roofs.

"But they can't hold off Clu's army!" Tron stated in confusion.

"It was my plan. You know what I'm best at,"

"Stealth,"

"Exactly,"

"But with such a large group?"

"Makes it even less likely to suspect," They paused as another patrol passed.

"The rest of the Defiance is using the Unloader to sneak Programs underground,"

Tron was very impressed.

"Now that they've been caught, they should be retreating underground. We'll meet them at the coliseum," Beck informed before the lights of the city came back on.

"Looks like Dyson's secured the power station. We have to hurry," he continued, leaving explosive bombs behind.

"What are you doing?"

"Giving them a distraction,"

"But they haven't spotted us,"

"Not from us," Beck said, holding out a remote trigger.

* * *

Link, Zed, and the rest of the group that had gone to the power station, panted from their exertion. Having sprinted over a kilometer through the tunnels, the group climbed the ladder to the surface, peaking out of the grate. The alley was clear and said o they ascended to the surface. They worked quickly to set up their equipment.

"Ready," Bartik said as he connected the contacts of his device. It wasn't long before the sound of a distance explosion rubbled through the air.

"Alright everyone," Zed said triumphantly, a feral grin marking his face, "Show time,"

* * *

Lights filled the sky all over Argon. All over the city, dazzling displays of fireworks blossomed. Sparks of the full range of the rainbow except one color filled the sky. Orange.

Tron looked over at Beck who had just dropped the depressed trigger for his bombs.

"I don't think a fireworks show will slow Dyson, Beck," He said with disappointment.

"It's not meant to slow him down,"

The young mechanic, having lowered himself in the dank alley the two were standing it, removed the sewer grate below him. When the two dropped down, it was near pitch black in the narrow space. The only light came from above, which was barely any to begin with. Light came from a small flashlight Beck pulled from his waist.

"Let's go,"

* * *

"What was it like?" Tron asked suddenly. They had been walking for the past few microcycles in silence. Only the tapping of their boots against the tunnels to keep them company.

Tron had needed a minute to gather his thoughts. What was someone supposed to say to someone who was dead? A close friend who had past, and regretting the moments you let pass. It seemed the Grid had gifted him a second chance, as it had with Flynn.

If only he could have been given another chance with Yori.

Beck, having answered the question already spoken immediately.

"Like I was asleep for a long time. A really long dream guided by Paige's life,"

"And you just woke up?" Tron questioned.

"Sort of. It was odd. It was like dreaming, but I was aware of what was happening in the dream. That I knew I'd never wake up,"

That make Tron fault in his walk. It seemed terrifying similar to the time after Clu's overthrow. Like a waking nightmare that never cleared from his mind. A world that seemed to be impossible in existence, but reality never changed back. The horror. The crippling fear and defeat.

"How did you manage?"

"I still felt connected to Paige, her presence was enough to keep me sane through it. She was the hope I could hold onto,"

Again, Tron felt Beck's words reach to his core. At times, he felt the Grid was against him. Long cycles of torture at Dyson's hand, the knowledge of his ultimate failure and purpose torn from him. He had Flynn as his hope. But there were times when Yori would flash through the pain. Calling to him, telling him to stay strong and fight.

"So, you and Paige are..."

Beck blushed and looked away, a hard sight to see in the dark. Tron couldn't help but wonder if the feeling in his chest was what Flynn felt for his own son. Warmth that sank to his core, and rang with a vibrance through his body. A similar feeling of love, but... familial. He imagined it was the same feeling a father would have for teasing his son over his first girlfriend.

"Yeah..." Beck muttered.

Tron huffed. "I guess you were right about her after all,"

The Renegade straightened slightly, a small smirk gracing his lips.

"What about you and Yori? I don't think I've heard the full story," Beck asked conversationally. Tron stiffened at the question, and when he didn't respond, Beck looked back and realized his error.

"Unless it's hard-"

"No. It's fine. It just surprised me that you asked. I've only ever told a handful of Programs,"

I suppose Abel and Flynn are hardly a handful.

There was a significant pause before he spoke again.

"I think I'm hindsight it should have been obvious to me what had happened. But usually that's the case with seeing the problem in the aftermath...

"Flynn had transferred a group of us from the old system. Ones he felt that could be updated to fit the _new_ Grid. Yori was one of them,"

The sound of their footsteps echoed through the tunnel as Tron told his story.

"She helped coordinate with other Programs to make sure construction and other critical areas were monitored. It was a drastic change in what her previous protocol had been. We were able to work together and spent lots of our routines with each other. It made the time we spent that much sweeter. A new world to expand and create. With a great friend on one side, and... the woman I loved on the other. Like Flynn, I was supremely happy...

"... Until problems arose. Flynn's wife had been in an accident. He'd been absent from the Grid for Hilos. Clu had worried about his well being. He came to me asking what to do. I think that night was the beginning of change for Clu into what we know him as now. When Flynn returned, he was drastically different. It seemed a new person had rewritten his heart. Yori and I had been worried, when we talked to him about it he shrugged it off and would continue to dive deeper into working on the Grid,"

Tron took a breath before continuing.

"Clu started acting harsher towards the workers. Yori came to me one night after he had derezzed a Program for 'not meeting _his_ standards'. When I confronted him, he was indifferent. Like he had the right to derez who ever he wanted. When I asked about how he felt toward Flynn's time away, Clu exploded. Telling me that Flynn wasn't the same, had been corrupted or some nonsense like that, made him lose his focus,"

Tron scoffed.

"It turned out the opposite was true. Flynn had started devoting more time into the Grid. I think Clu was just so close minded he wasn't able to see that.

"When I brought Clu's behavior to Flynn, he brushed it off,"

Tron slowed to a stop, his eyes clearly indicating he was far away.

"What happened to Yori?" Beck questioned after a moment, bringing his mentor back to the present.

"She was murdered. A few cycles after I confronted Clu, she hadn't come home. I went out looking for her, but I couldn't find her at any of the normal places. So I went to Flynn and together we were able to trace her. I could hardly understand it. Her voxels just... I..." Tron knelt down, a hand on his chest. Beck was immediately at his side.

"Tron! It's okay," he rubbed the man's back with reassurance.

"He... he took everything from me, Beck," Tron's voice was so weak, hollow. Beck was hardly able to recognize it.

"Yori, Flynn, the ISO's, the _Grid_ , my body, my name... my purpose..."

"Tron!" Becks shout managed to bring the older man's gaze to his.

"He hasn't taken everything. He hasn't won yet. You still have me. You still have the Uprising. Flynn. And you still have one ISO who needs to be protected,"

Tron's glazed eyes seemed to regain some focus at his words, their cold calculating steel color returning.

"Clu can't take away what makes you who you are. You have your body back. You have your name. And no matter what. He can't take your purpose away,"

"He could repurpose me," Beck shook his head.

"Even that wouldn't stop you. Nothing can stop you," he paused, "Except you. You're getting in your own way,"

The mechanic stood and held out a hand. "Stand up with me. Only you can stand against opposition, _you_ taught me that. But sometimes we need a helping hand,"

Tron could only stare at the calloused hand in shock. When had Beck turned from the insecure boy, into the courageous hero? Why had he finally folded in on himself after all the pain and tragedy had already passed and hope was just at the horizon? Was it because of Anon? Because if Clu had taken Dyson, and Anon, what could stop him from taking him, Flynn, Beck, and the rest of the Uprising?

"Stop thinking," their eyes met again, "I know what you're doing. I don't know why you're doing it, you've never done it before, but stop,"

It took a moment for his words to sink in, but eventually, Tron took his protégé's hand and stood.

"You're right... I just..." Something about his tone made Beck understand his mentor's sudden anguish.

"You never fully grieved for her did you?" The silence that followed was substantially heavy.

"No," the two started walking again, "And right now, isn't the time,"

"Beck, I wanted to say this for a long time. You've shown potential I've never experienced before. You've proven to be the hardest working Program I've ever met. I'm proud to have you as an ally, a confidant, a friend... Someone I can trust fully. You are incredibly intelligent. Look at this whole scenario! You rescued me, from Dyson _and_ Rinzler! While managing an operation to save the Programs of Argon.

"You are the hero of this story, not me," Beck's face was flush with emotions raging to escape, as he tried to keep the tears from rolling.

"You've become..." Tron paused as his eyes narrowed in thought.

"Frankly, the way you act, it's behavior of a User,"

"I..."

Just silence. Tron expected as much. The humble hero as Beck was.

"Thank you, Tron," the Renegade said with his voice on the verge of cracking.

Tron couldn't help his hand as he ruffled the young man's spiked hair.

"Let's get moving,"

* * *

The two stood under the ladder that would lead them to the opening of the coliseum.

"Ready?" Beck asked.

"Hero's first," Tron answered, gesturing with a hand.

The cover slid to the side and the two came to the surface. A group rivaling a hundred Programs waited for them and cheered as they came into view. Mara and Zed rushed Beck, crushing him in a bear hug while Perl and Gav came up to Tron and gave him a curt nod and welcome back.

"You did it!" Mara shouted into Beck's ear. Her arms squeezing too tightly to be comfortable.

" _We_ did it," Beck's reply was barely heard over the applause and cheering. His best friends unwrapped themselves from him and Mara proceeded to hug the older Program.

"Thanks, Mara," Tron chuckled, returning her embrace briefly.

Paige managed her way through the crowd and appeared behind her partner. With minimal fanfare, the two came together, their hands combining naturally.

"Did you two talk?" she asked into his ear. Beck nodded his affirmation as the group moved through to the center of the arena.

"I'll tell you later," he muttered before Mara's shout grabbed his attention.

"Beck! Look at all these Programs!" her hand pointed to the seating area where what appeared to be hundreds of Programs resided, all rescued from the Occupation.

As Tron and the Renegade walked forward, the Defiance members around them backed away, even Paige, giving Beck a reassuring nod. In the middle of the arena, the two stood side by side, all the attention drawn to them.

"Greetings Programs!" Tron's voice boomed throughout the coliseum, "Some of you may think me dead. But, it is time for me to come out of hiding. Clu had me tortured and crippled, I escaped and enlisted the help of this Program," The stares of nearly a thousand pairs of eyes burned into Beck's soul.

"A single Program. He alone stood against the Occupation in my emblem. My name. My hope. _His_ determination to save this city was inspiring. And I stand before you to ask for your help. Now is the time to stand together. _Against_ Clu and his oppression. Will you join our Uprising…" He looked to Beck before looking behind him at the rest of the renegades.

"… Our Defiance. To free the Grid and return it to its former glory?" There was a moment of deafening silence.

"Tron Lives!" Beck shouted, pumping a fist into the air.

"Tron Lives!" The other Specialists shouted with him in the next chant.

"Tron Lives!" The third time, all of the Defiance cheered it.

Slowly, the crowd in the stands joined in.

"Tron Lives!"

"Tron Lives!"

"Tron Lives!"

As the chanting chorused, Tron looked over to Beck. A confident smile grazing his face.

"Beck. I may be their leader. But you're their hope," His cold steel gaze piercing, "This is your rebellion more than it is mine. Are you prepared to take charge?"

Beck felt himself light on the inside. A blooming fire in his stomach that grew to his chest. Was he truly ready to take the mantle of a hero? Become the next Tron and save the Grid?

His eyes glanced over to Paige. She caught it, and in that small moment, their resonance glowed bright. Their connection grew and he was momentarily overwhelmed with Paige's admiration. But in the nano it took to feel, he had his answer. Her smile told him she knew what he was thinking.

"Yes,"

* * *

AN: Sorry for the long wait, I've had this written for months, just not typed up. Not my most favorite chapter to write, but I do hope you enjoyed it.

There are a few scenes where I feel the characters act differently than what they're supposed to. Especially Tron reliving Yori's death. I can't imagine in the show having him do that, but I think even Tron isn't immune to a small panic attack, feeling the literal weight of the world on his shoulders and all.

I do try to keep all actions and reactions logical, so I hope you all enjoy the story so far, and this chapter.

-Rose's Requiem.


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